


Love is Strength

by Katherine737



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Time Travel, Zelena travels with Emma to the past, different take on s3 finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-14 20:59:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 62,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2202933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katherine737/pseuds/Katherine737
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As soon as the guards were gone, Emma crept nearer to the castle, only to notice two people dangerously close to them. Partially hidden from view by a small pavillion, a child and a young woman were standing under a small apple tree.<br/>Regina and Snow.<br/>Zelena gasped, but Emma gripped her arm tightly.<br/>“Simple recon.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> First of all I'd like to give a huge thankful to my very patient beta the-willow. Thank you for putting up with my comma abuse, my weird sentences, and patiently looking at every single sentence in this monster of a fic! Without you, this story certainly wouldn't sound half as good as it does!
> 
> I'd also like to thank PhoenixTat for being an awesome cheerleader and keeping me on my toes regarding suddenly appearing cars and other continuity errors. Thank you for your love and enthusiasm for this story!
> 
> Thanks to my first reader y0ungatheart for taking some of my initial nervousness away with her excitement and joy at reading my fic, never failing to point out my favourite parts!
> 
> Huge thanks to my beautiful artist ShioriKaiou (pancakeshio) for choosing my story and creating gorgeous art work (link will be up soon)!
> 
> And thanks to Lola and Tiff for bringing us all together and creating this awesome big bang!
> 
> Of course I don't own the show or the characters, and I don't make any profit from this. Also, any remaining mistakes are entirely my own.
> 
> The story contains some mild violence, mostly via magic, and discussions of child abuse. Other than that there shouldn't be any triggers.  
> Robin exists in this story, but he is a side character, and this is not a story about a love triangle. Hook on the other hand doesn't have a part in this story, I swear, it doesn't hurt the continuity.
> 
> Now that everything is said, I hope you enjoy my story!

Elsa felt her magic whirling as her body was released. Ice surged through her, helping her find her way back to her body. It exploded out of her fingertips while she walked out of wherever the hell she had ended up. Outside, the buildings looked strange; nothing like the huge castles or ever growing villages she was used to.

She squinted at the modern buildings for a moment, not quite able to process the sight, before she allowed herself to come to the right conclusion.

Storybrooke.

Of course that was impossible. Storybrooke had been gone for years now.

Wary, she looked around.

“Anna?”

Her sister had promised.

But she was alone.

She felt weird.

Somehow…

She stretched her hands, reining in the ice, feeling the muscles contract almost painfully.

How long had she been incarcerated?

Rumpelstiltskin had said that his vault was out of time and space, and yet…

It felt like an eternity had passed.

Uncertain, she moved along the street, the harsh wind messing up her hair. But she didn’t feel the cold - she never did. The longer she walked the more she recognized, faint memories whispering the names of shops and streets.

A dark suspicion formed in her mind as she slowly turned around.

Elsa had just passed Gold’s pawn shop, shivering at the sight. Next to her was Gepetto’s, which she hardly recognized, and across the street resided a building she recognized so instantly it made her gasp: Granny’s diner.

Hesitant, she approached the brightly lit diner. She was fascinated by the twinkly lights outside that sat in tiny glass bulbs. They didn’t have party lights at home anymore, only magic, which looked… different.

Her fascination made her miss the two people who were walking up from the street so that when she turned, she walked right into the path of a child. The young boy stumbled and she barely caught him, preventing his fall.

“My apologies, little one.”

“Sorry,” he echoed before he tilted his head to regard her with curious, dark, eyes.

“You’re dressed weird.”

She laughed at that, pulling self-consciously on her dress’ sleeve.

“I am?”

“Mh-hm,” he confirmed, still looking up at her.

“Roland?”

Relieved, Elsa looked up, expecting to see the boy’s mother. Wait, Roland? She squinted at the tiny boy in front of her and almost laughed. Sure - adorable dimples, easy smile and huge dark eyes. This was Roland. But he was about four or five years old…

Which couldn’t mean anything good.

Dread filled her as she waited for Marian to approach. Marian was dressed in weirdly elegant clothing, her hair uncharacteristically short and...

This was not Marian.

“Roland, come here to me.”

The boy winked at Elsa before he darted to the person that was decidedly not his mother. And the woman who was not _his_ mother gathered him up in her arms like she had done it hundred times before.

Elsa felt like she was going to be sick.

Dark eyes zeroed in on her. Without recognition. Without kindness.

“Who are you?”

Speechless, Elsa simply stared.

At least, until she noticed how Regina held Roland on her left side, her right arm free to direct her magic.

Elsa placatingly lifted her hands.

“I mean you no harm.”

Her voice quivered and she hated herself for that weakness but Regina tilted her head and lowered her hand.

“That does not answer my question.”

Of course not. Single-minded mom. Elsa sighed internally but tried to smile at the person that was not her mother. This could only be Storybrooke. Roland was about four and Regina was not wearing her necklace.

So…

She ended up somewhere _before_. Henry had talked about this time often enough, but it had always been stories. Nice ones, but none about herself being here.

“Are you okay?”

The concern, however wary, broke completely through Elsa. Before she could think she blurted out her foremost thought.

“I’m not supposed to be here.”

Regina looked her over, taking in the shimmering blue dress, her perfectly done braid, and her crystalline shoes. Elsa almost expected her to admonish her for making her clothes out of ice again. Instead, Regina simply nodded.

“I would suppose so. Where do you belong to?”

“The Enchanted Forest.”

“Wow!”, Roland breathed in awe, clearly missing his home. He received a tiny smile from Regina before she scrutinized Elsa.

“When in the Enchanted Forest?”

Caught, Elsa avoided her eyes.

“That’s what I thought.”

Regina sounded exasperated. Like that time Anna managed to destroy all their tableware in one clumsy swoop. Elsa almost wished Regina could simply wave her hand and send her back to her time, like she repaired Anna’s mess in less a second. But she knew - reality was not that kind.

“Any idea how to get me back?”

“Simply tell me what time you are from, dear. Then we’ll go into Granny’s and make Emma deal with the mess she created.”

“Emma?”

“The Savior. She caused a time rip. I’d wager that’s where you’re from.”

Elsa scrunched her eyebrows and thought really hard.

“No. Emma went into the past. I’m from…”

“The future?”

Damn it.  
  


* * *

  
Elsa’s mind whirled as Regina led her into Granny’s. She could make out familiar faces, but didn’t dare to look too hard lest her eyes would betray her. Ma always said her eyes were the most expressive of her features. She also said that she could always see in them when Elsa was lying, but Elsa wasn’t so sure about that. At least she had never caught her sneaking out with Alex.

Ma stood next to a booth, holding a sleeping baby in her arms. Elsa narrowed her eyes in confusion until she noticed Snow and David sitting behind Emma.

She swallowed.

A hand squeezed her arm, reminding her that she wasn’t alone. Regina regarded her with a look that Elsa didn’t like one bit.

“You know us.”

Elsa proudly jutted her chin out, imitating the most haughty expression her mom had taught her.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Time travel was dangerous. It was difficult, and stupid, and perilous.

When she met Regina’s eyes, she realized that Regina was _amused_.

“Well, the Savior just returned from a travel to the past. It can hardly be a coincidence that you appear now. Maybe we should ask her how she got back to us, so that we can send you back to…”

“My family.”

Her answer stopped Regina short. The amusement gone; a serious look taking over.

“Yes, let’s get you back to your family.”

But Elsa’s eyes were still on the Prince.

“How old is Prince Bae?”

She was careful to use the honorific, hoping it would throw Regina off from whatever she was thinking. It worked. Slightly.

“He was born a couple of days ago.”

“Oh.”

She did the math quickly, three times to be sure. A terrible longing settled in her chest. These people here didn’t recognize her and they wouldn’t either, but…

“Regina?”

Unfortunately, Emma turned around to look at them just as Elsa had started to move backwards. Regina caught Elsa’s arm again and gently pulled her to her family.

“Look, what else you brought with you, Emma.”

Emma’s eyes widened, taking in Elsa’s clothes, clearly shocked. Elsa felt more than one pair of eyes on her. Yet, she couldn’t turn around to look at anyone else. She was frozen by her mother’s gaze. With a sheepish smile on her lips she waved at Emma, feeling beyond stupid.

“Hi.”

 


	2. Chapter 1

Emma’s eyes widened at the sight in front of her. Mulan’s voice on the phone faded into the background as she stared at the bright orange light coming from the behind the trees. She quickly made her way over.

“I think we have a bigger problem, Mulan.”

“Bigger than the Wicked Witch disappearing? Sheriff, you need to get back to the station immediately, not scramble around in the dark of the night.”

“Dark of the night? Mulan, it’s eight pm.”

“I don’t care. I can still feel the magic on me. Someone put me in some kind of stasis!”

“Yeah. Let’s deal with that later. I’m close to where Zelena prepared her time travel spell and there’s something glowing in bright orange colors. It looks like it’s about to explode.”

“And it doesn’t occur to you that those two things might be connected?”

Stopping right in her tracks Emma nodded.

“Right. Hang on, I’m calling Regina.”

“Sheriff?”

She hung up on her deputy and carefully approached the glowing structure while listening to the dial tone of her phone.

“Sheriff Swan?”

Emma cringed; she knew she had screwed up badly. But this wasn’t the time to apologize.

“Regina? Can you come out to where Zelena tried to do her time spell? I think… There’s something weird going on.”

“You are thinking? Weird indeed.”

Although Regina sounded cold, there was a different kind of nuance in her voice. She clearly wanted an explanation. Emma would gladly give one later; she knew she owed her that.

“Regina! Focus!”

“Oh, I am focused. You ran off after proclaiming to take my son to New York without so much as a discussion and now you’re calling for my help. Let me tell you - it’s not charming. If you think that I will help you after that, you are sorely mistaken...”

  
A loud crash interrupted Regina’s chastening and Emma yelled as she felt herself being pulled inside the building. Her phone fell from her hand as she scrambled and failed to find anything to cling to.

Silver-purple smoke billowed next to her, giving her a glimpse of worried dark eyes just before she was lost inside a stream of scalding liquid.

Emma threw her arms up, trying to catch Regina’s offered hand with her magic. They connected once, shortly, just to lose each other again.

The bright light burned her eyes and made her skin crawl.

“Emma!”

Regina’s scream echoed behind her, naked fear in her voice - an emotion that could only come from actually caring about her.

Emma had never heard anyone call her name in this way. No even Snow’s determined protest when the wraith had pulled Emma in had sounded that devastated.

She concentrated on that feeling of being cared for as she closed her eyes and rolled into a defensive little ball while she fell, desperately trying to recall all the things she didn’t know about Time Travel.

Rumple had insisted that it wasn’t possible. Regina had given Zelena the benefit of the doubt. Zelena had, apparently, made it work.

Emma kept thinking of Storybrooke, of Henry, Regina, and her parents, her little brother. She focused on her little brother, hoping against hope that the portal would only take her a few hours back.

The burning liquid spit her out onto soft grass and the overwhelming smell of forest.

For a moment she hoped she was simply on the outskirts of Storybrooke.

Then she looked up to see the soaring spires of a castle.

Decidedly not Storybrooke.

The Enchanted Forest.

Again.  
  


* * *

  
Before Emma could get her bearings, she was knocked to the ground by a body tumbling on top of her, hard fists smacking against her sternum.

“What did you do! What did you **do**?”

Shocked Emma took a second to stare at the red-brown curls, the shining blue eyes in disbelief. Even though she immediately recognized the witch’s drawling accent, she was taken aback by her sudden presence, not to mention surprised by how little Zelena’s fists actually hurt. More annoyed than anything else, Emma shoved the woman aside. It was almost easy to capture Zelena’s wrists and pin her to the ground. So Mulan had been right. Zelena had escaped.

“I think the real question would be: What did _you_ do?”

“Nothing! I did nothing!”

Zelena’s voice wavered, the wrists in Emma’s hands trembled, her lips were pressed together, and her eyes were failing at looking menacing. Zelena seemed scared.

Without the huge pendant around her neck she was weak - powerless.

Emma loosened her hold on her. Zelena was no threat anymore. Judging by the way she scrambled away from Emma, she surely felt that way herself.

Zelena looked frantically around, clearly not recognizing anything. She breathed heavily, anger shining fiercely in her blue eyes as she repeated her question.

“What did you do?”

Emma considered their situation for a moment, scrutinizing her companion’s tense shoulders, the badly hidden trembling of her tight fists, and how she avoided Emma’s eyes.

It was only partly due to her skill of reading people, but mostly due to the time spent looking behind Regina’s mask that Emma recognized the sheer fear in Zelena’s eyes.

So Emma got up slowly, trying not to scare the witch into attacking her again, deciding that she might need Zelena’s help to get them both back.

No matter when and where they were, they couldn’t change anything. Judging by the huge, intact, castle in front of them, they had actually traveled in time.

Zelena was still sitting on the ground, her face scrunched up to feign annoyance. She didn’t exactly succeed.

Emma tried to consider their situation.

Regina had taken her sister’s pendant and with that her magic. Somehow the spell got enacted but Emma was sure that if it had been Zelena, she would be far more collected and they would be somewhere else. Not at Regina’s rising silver castle.

She could only hope that Zelena wasn’t fooling her with some elaborate act.

Well, Emma had gotten her own magic back the moment Regina took off the pendant. So magically and physically she was stronger.

Emma patted at her clothes to get the dirt off, and offered Zelena a hand. The other woman regarded her with open distrust.

“Why would you help me?”

Deciding to handle the suspicion with honesty, Emma shrugged.

“We both ended up somewhere we don’t want to be. I suggest we work together to get back.”

“Why would I want to get back to there?” Zelena spat.

For a moment Emma was stunned, not having an answer. So she focused on what she could say; on the obvious.

“Because we don’t belong here.”

Zelena opened her mouth, but closed it again before more words tumbled out. Emma was pretty sure Zelena was about to protest that she didn’t belong in Storybrooke either.

Fortunately, she didn’t say it.

Because Emma had no answer for that either.

Back in Storybrooke, Zelena would be imprisoned again. They both knew it.

To her surprise Zelena just looked at her and nodded before taking her hand and allowing Emma to help her up. She patted at her clothes, smoothing her skirt, scowling at the stains of dirt and grass. Without looking up, she mumbled.

“So, what happened?”

Emma felt herself growing tense again.

There was no trusting Zelena but she had to try. Otherwise they were both screwed.

“I was hoping you could explain this? Since it was your spell that catapulted us here, you know?”

“I didn’t do anything. I was in a jail cell, remember?”

Zelena’s anger looked familiar - down to the barely visible twitch at her mouth, speaking of fear and insecurity.

Emma had made the mistake of distrusting Regina when her gut had told her differently. Now her gut was disturbingly silent and she had to trust her ability to read people.

Maybe she could put her decision on hold and collect more facts - ruffle Zelena a bit.

“I heard you broke out.”

Zelena flinched but shook her head.

“I didn’t break out and I didn’t bring us here.”

Strangely, she was speaking the truth. Either that or she was being a master manipulator. There was a hint of defiance in her gaze before she avoided Emma’s eyes, clearly uncomfortable with whatever had happened.

It didn’t take long for Zelena to straighten her shoulders again.

“So, what do we do now?”

Emma could only think of one thing. As dangerous as it was, they needed to get closer to the castle to determine what time span they had arrived in.

For now they were hidden between the trees, but as soon as they started moving, their clothes would tell everyone that they were foreigners.

Remembering her travels with Snow, Mulan, and Aurora, and Regina’s lessons, Emma snapped her fingers. Silver magic engulfed them and left them dressed in appropriate commoner clothes, if she had gotten it right. Rough linen skirts, tight corsets, wide blouses, warm cloaks, and thankfully comfy boots. She hoped that the plain colors would blend in well enough.

Zelena raised an eyebrow.

“I see you have your magic back.”

Emma simply shrugged.

“I see you lost yours.”

Zelena rolled her eyes, gathered her skirts, pulled up her hood, and followed Emma’s gaze.

“So, are we to look at the castle to distinguish in which time we are?”

“Yes.”

“Are you forgetting that one can’t simply stroll into a highly guarded castle?”

Emma ignored her. They were at the edge of the forest, stables and shacks in front of them, a brightly-colored garden dividing the small buildings from the castle. A lot of people were milling around. They could cross without drawing attention.

She winked confidently at Zelena.

“Let’s just see how far we can get. Maybe it’ll be enough to see someone.”

Zelena just shook her head but started moving.

“Well, this is Regina’s castle, so I suppose we’ll see her.”

Curious, Emma observed Zelena’s sullen expression.

“How do you know that? You’ve never been here, have you?”

“Once or twice,” Zelena admitted, before avoiding Emma’s eyes. Emma kept walking alongside of her, waiting for Zelena to elaborate.

“Before I gave Dorothy her stupid shoes to get her back to her stupid world.”

“Okay. Let’s not talk about Dorothy,” Emma suggested, trying to prevent another story from overwhelming her. Zelena nodded grimly.

“I agree. She was a vile, power-hungry thing. Tried to kill me with a monstrous potion. The only way to get rid of her was to make her believe that I was gone and grant her wish to return home.”

Emma shook her head.

“I don’t even want to know.”

Zelena simply shrugged.

“I was here once. I wanted to show Rumple that I was the girl he was looking for. I was better at magic and not as pathetic as Regina.”

“Pathetic?”

“She yammered on and on about how she couldn’t do magic and how it was difficult. I watched her through my magic.”

“Of course you did.”

Somehow that was less weird than Emma would have thought a year ago. Now she focused on a different part of Zelena’s story.

“So, Regina’s magic didn’t come naturally to her?”

“Gods, no. She was wretched. It was a pain to watch. I don’t know what Rumple thought of her.”

That didn’t add up to what Emma knew.

“He needed her to do the curse.”

“His curse,” Zelena clarified and held her head high. “I was the better candidate.”

And apparently still bitter about it, Emma thought to herself but stayed silent, pondering the news. She wondered who Zelena would have killed to enact the curse, but she didn’t want to know. It was enough to know that Snow killed David and they only survived because of some strange stupid magic Regina did to their hearts.

Instead Emma thought about working with Zelena. She should keep her close, make sure that she didn’t do anything, but could she trust her?

Cooperating with Regina had always been a lot easier than that.

They had Henry in common and had managed to develop some kind of trust from there.

With Zelena, there was no common goal, except maybe escaping this time and place together.

She didn’t know anything about her, only that she hated Regina’s existence and seemed afraid without her powers.

Emma tried to rely on that.

She had magic; Zelena didn’t.

Depending on how far back they were, Regina might not even have magic, so she’d be hard pressed to defend herself against a sister on a warpath, no matter how physically weak Zelena seemed.

Emma couldn’t have that.

She didn’t even have to think about the fact that it would take Henry’s happy childhood away or how she’d miss not having Regina around.

If Regina was killed this early, Henry would not be born, and Emma probably wouldn’t be either.

So, she’d keep Zelena close.

 

* * *

 

In an act of pure madness, Regina tried to jump in after Emma. She stepped forward, feeling her magic brim near the surface, ready to protect her, when she walked right into the orange pillar. It was as solid as a stone wall.

Fortunately, she had held out one hand and so she merely stumbled against the barrier.

She flinched as she heard a chuckle behind her.

Anger surged through her as she turned around, facing a ridiculously amused Rumple. Ignoring all the warning flags his behavior raised, Regina hissed at him.

“What did you do?”

He shrugged carelessly.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Then explain this to me!” Regina ordered, gesturing toward the the spot where Emma had disappeared.

Afraid that she was doing a bad job at hiding her anxiety, she tried to inconspicuously take a deep breath.

Judging by the way he curiously tilted his head, she had failed miserably. His eyes lit up in recognition of her failure. He still got a kick out of anyone being on edge, especially her.

“Well, it’s really pretty easy, dearie. I have faith that you can figure it out yourself, if you set your mind to it.”

Frustrated by his riddles, Regina tried to appeal to his reasonable side, hoping there was one.

“Can you imagine the damage Miss Swan can do? Unsupervised, in the past? Would you like our present to be wiped out?”

The way Rumple just blankly stared at her convinced her that he really didn’t care. Maybe Neal’s death had finally put him over the edge.

Regina sighed and made a dismissive gesture in his direction. Instead of listening to his riddles, she moved forward, pressing her hands against the invisible barrier.

Wanting to leave was both the logical next step and entirely irresponsible.

The thought of leaving Henry alone ripped her apart. But if Emma found a way in, then Regina would find a way out. And honestly, she hadn’t been lying when she had argued that Emma might destroy everything.

They surely couldn’t trust her to make her little trip to the past without consequences.

“I assure you that you won’t be able to get through, Your Majesty.”

Fighting for control, Regina closed her eyes, breathing through her mouth.

“Would you like to tell me why?”

“Why, of course. When I met the Savior in the past, you weren’t with her. You are not supposed to travel in time. That’s for her.”

Shocked, Regina turned around, stepping away from the barrier. It was still glowing, but just barely, almost invisible now.

“You want me to believe that you’ve just remembered meeting her in the past?”

His smile grew even wider.

“Believe it or not, Regina, but that’s entirely true. I can only guess that I took some potion so that I wouldn’t remember her anymore. She was quite set on returning home.”

An icy feeling coursed through her.

“You betrayed her.”

He nodded once before he disappeared. The hint of regret in his demeanor was truly disturbing.

 

* * *

 

It was surprisingly easy to sneak through the muddy village. No one spared them a second glance. They were halfway through the royal gardens when they had to hide behind some bushes because of two knights. Fortunately, they seemed to be more interested in some jousting event than actually patrolling. Maybe it was a time of peace.

Whatever that meant in the Enchanted Forest.

As soon as the guards were gone, Emma crept closer to the castle, only to notice two people dangerously close to them. They were hidden from view by a small pavillion. A child and a young woman were standing under a small apple tree.

Regina and Snow.

Zelena gasped but Emma gripped her arm tightly.

“Simple recon.”

“I’m afraid I don’t seem to understand your ridiculous jargon.”

“Only watching - no contact whatsoever.”

Zelena gave Emma’s hand on her arm a significant look.

“I could subscribe to that.”

Emma rolled her eyes without letting go. She turned back to the royals, dressed in evidently ornate clothes. They were both wearing tiaras in similarly braided dark hair. Snow was speaking with a slight whine in her voice.

“I think the tree is a bit small. We should get a bigger one for my name day.”

Although she couldn't see her face, Emma was certain she could _hear_ Regina's eyeroll.

“Snow, this is my tree. We can surely get you one as well but it would get a different place.”

“Why? I like it here.”

Emma gritted her teeth and shook her head. That couldn't be her mother. No way she had been such a brat.

“We will talk about this later, Snow. You need to go to your quarters. The tailors are waiting for you.”

“Do I get the satin shawl I chose?”

“Of course you will; your father promised it to you.”

“Then I will go.”

With that, the two walked away, Snow linking arms with Regina. When they were out of hearing range, Zelena snorted.

“What a brat.”

“Shut up,” Emma commanded as she looked after Regina. It couldn’t be. Regina looked barely twenty-one, if at all. Snow had to be about eleven.

Emma sighed. Regina hadn’t been living here for long; Emma was certain that she didn’t have any magic yet.

“I wonder why she didn’t try to kill the brat earlier.”

Emma stood up and roughly pulled Zelena along.

“I said, shut up.”

“Oh, not so keen on seeing dear mommy being an entitled royal?”

Trying not to let Zelena get to her, Emma rolled her eyes and decided to turn the tables.

“One might think you were jealous.”

That _did_ shut up Zelena.  
  


* * *

  
After deciding that they had to regroup, preferably while finding something to eat, they went back through the small camp, looking for the nearest village.

On the way, Emma stole some old man’s money pouch. She took some coins before calling after him, feigning that he had dropped it. They needed something to eat. She felt a bit guilty, hoping that their theft didn’t change his life, but her hunger outweighed her conscience.

Regina should have taught her to conjure up food instead of all the stupid things they did in Neverland. But no, the mayor had insisted that Emma already ate too many bear claws and the diet would be good for her. Emma rolled her eyes at the memory; Regina mocking Emma’s cholesterol levels while slurping a Mocha Frappuccino with more sugar than Emma had ever seen in a beverage, naturally conjured up from the coffee beans in the vicinity, telling her that manipulating atoms like that took years.

What she would give for a coffee and a bear claw right now…

Or just for having Regina with her. She would have no problem handling Zelena and using her magic to get them back immediately.

Emma really hoped they didn't need to collect the same ingredients as Zelena had. A symbol of courage and a heart were strange and yucky enough, but a baby?

Not wanting to go there, even in thought, Emma decided to start with something different.

“So, how did we end up in this time? I thought you wanted to go back further?”

She kept her voice light, hoping that Zelena would answer and that the witch’s explanation would make sense. If she got a realistic answer to that question, they could move on to the important one: how to get back to Storybrooke.

“You might notice that I don’t have any magic, so how in the four winds should I know?”

“Four winds?”

Zelena made a sweeping hand gesture, waving her comment away.

“Old saying in Oz.”

“Right,” Emma mumbled. Like being in the Enchanted Forest wasn’t enough.

“Anyway, I planned to go back further, yes. I planned to kill Regina after she was born and put myself in her place.”

“You do know that you’re a fully grown human being, right?”

When Zelena fixed her eyes on her, Emma felt like she had said something stupid. She sighed. Those two were making a serious case for nature over nurture. But then, most of Henry’s character was the counter evidence of that. He took mostly after Regina.

“I’m not daft.”

Yes, Zelena’s voice clearly suggested what she thought of Emma.

“Of course I planned on procuring myself just after Cora lost me and exchange them later.”

“But you might not benefit from it.”

“What are you saying?”

Emma shrugged.

“No one has ever used a time travel spell before. It is completely unclear what you did. We don’t know what will happen, if we change anything. One tiny thing might change the entire future. It might create a parallel universe or simply change things in our timeline to create a world we won’t recognize when we get back.”

“I have no desire to go back.”

“Well, I have no desire to get Regina killed. Besides, we aren’t as far back as you’d like. You’d have a hard time exchanging yourself, or your other self, for her right now. Which brings us back to the question: How did we end up here?”

Zelena shrugged.

“I suppose you thought of this time and changed our direction.”

“Oh.”

Well, she _had_ thought of Bae.

“I thought of my brother.”

“Smart. You wanted to stay where you were. But the spell was specifically created to take you somewhere, not leave you where you already are. So, here we are. Our opposing thoughts pulled us in different directions and put us somewhere in the middle.”

Emma gave a noncommittal hum. This theory actually sounded reasonable.

“So, how do we get back?”

“Magic? I hear you have yours…”

Emma gave Zelena a sharp look. Now she knew why Zelena put up with her. She didn’t have any magic and she counted on Emma to recreate a time portal, no doubt planning to jump further back instead of forwards.

Emma sighed.

She might have to make sure that Zelena was unconscious for the return trip.

“I won’t sacrifice a baby, someone’s heart, and whatever else was in your spell.”

“Brains and courage.”

Emma shuddered. She really tried to suppress the brains part.

“We could go to the Dark One. I hear he’s one of the most powerful magic users in this realm. He doesn’t know about time travel, but he might help us recreate my spell.”

Now that Emma knew, or at least suspected, where Zelena was going with this, she thought she could trust her to get them to a portal. She’d overpower Zelena then. So she simply nodded.

“Good idea. Any clue as to which direction we should take?”

To her surprise Zelena turned around once, looked back at the castle, squinted at the sun, and regarded the moss on some nearby tree. Emma was ready to be impressed when Zelena simply shrugged.

“I suppose we could find directions in the nearby village.”

Emma snorted.

“Let’s just hope that whatever we do here, already happened in everyone else’s past.”

“What do you mean?”

“Another theory on time travel. You can’t change the past because you were already there. You already tried it.”

Zelena stayed silent after that.

 

* * *

 

Before the portal lost its last bit of vibrant orange energy, Regina tried to reach in once more, looking for a trace of Emma's magic, ready to pull her back out, if she couldn't get in.

When the remnant of the portal turned invisible, negating her last desperate try, Regina stumbled to the ground.

She stared at the spot that was now nothing more than a simple one-way-street, feeling empty.

Emma was gone.

There was no way to say if she was able to open the portal again.

Regina was pretty sure, it exceeded Emma's abilities.

She had no idea how much time had passed, until her phone rang, bringing her back to the present.

“Yes?”, she answered feebly to none other than Snow, panicking on the other end.

“Regina? Do you know what happened? Did you see the orange light? Mulan called from the station. Emma was going to check it out and she won’t answer her phone.”

Regina looked to the ground. Emma’s phone vibrated not too far away from her.

“She doesn’t have her phone.”

She doubted it would work wherever, _when_ ever, she was anyway.

“Do you know anything? Regina?”

Snow was about to become hysterical, but unfortunately Regina had no solace to offer.

“I saw her being dragged into the portal. I couldn’t…”

Regina cleared her throat as her voice broke.

“She is gone, Snow.”

She heard a strangled sob and Snow’s phone falling to the ground. She could make a quib about the Charming’s track record of losing their daughter to portals, but she wasn’t feeling it.

 

* * *

 

Before they entered the village, Emma allowed Zelena to talk her through changing their appearance. They couldn’t risk anyone recognizing them when they first came to Storybrooke.

She had done the spell with Regina once, but that didn’t necessarily mean she remembered it correctly. To her surprise. it worked.

The bad thing was that she had to clearly envision a face before changing theirs. It was why her face looked like Carrie Fisher in Star Wars, minus the crazy hair, and Zelena looked like Natalie Portman. There was nothing Emma had seen more often than Star Wars.

No one would remember them as themselves, at least not now.

They found a tavern that looked a bit less dirty than the others, but the only free table was next to a group of drinking men, clothed in nothing more than forest rags, boasting about stealing from some rich lord. A couple of them looked familiar; Emma thought she recognized Little John.

She gasped when she did recognize Robin. He was sitting directly next to her but she didn’t dare to look straight at him, afraid to draw his attention toward her.

When they had asked for directions, they had gotten suspicious looks but similar answers to take the western road. So they kept quiet over a disgusting stew with indistinguishable ingredients, hard bread and thin, watery, beer. To keep her anxiousness at bay, Emma played with the coins in her pocket, slowly duplicating them by magic.

It was fraud but she wasn’t about to steal more and they might need it.

She flinched when the barmaid approached them for payment. The coins clicked in her pocket, the ones in her hand tumbling out before she could calm herself. They shone in the candlelight brightly, the gleam betraying their newness, calling too much attention to them. Emma grew uncomfortably warm, frightened, and embarrassed at the same time. She closed her eyes against the stars she was seeing and kneeled down, quickly gathering the money, and paid the maid while Zelena asked for a recommendation for an inn.

Emma sighed. She wanted this over with as quickly as possible, but Zelena was right. They shouldn’t start walking in the middle of the night with only magic as their protection.

The only people who used magic were fairies and dark sorcerers, at least according to common knowledge in the Enchanted Forest. Emma didn’t know what that made Regina and her, but she knew that it wouldn’t be very smart to use magic.

So they chose a small inn and paid extra for their clearly invented names. Apparently it was common to have several beds in a room and they could count themselves lucky that they had a room with two beds for themselves.

Emma thought about tying Zelena to the bed before they went to sleep, but dismissed the thought. Zelena needed her.

Traveling with fugitives wasn’t always easy but it had given her a good sense of the people she was traveling with.

It was also why she was glad that she was a light sleeper. If Zelena tried to get away from her, Emma was certain that she’d wake up.

She was right. In both points.

But she was stupid not to consider other factors.

She had been traveling with royals through the Enchanted Forest. She had no idea what the local currencies meant.

So she had ended up creating a small fortune instead of a couple of coins, and left way too much money for a terrible stew without knowing about it.

It brought five ragged-looking men into their room in the middle of the night.

They were thieves, grown up in a world even crueler than Emma’s, so they were stealthier, smarter, and more careful.

Zelena heard them the moment the door clicked. She was out of the window before Emma had fully gained consciousness. Zelena had only stopped to throw something at Emma from the window. Emma didn’t know whether it was supposed to wake her or slow her down. It didn’t particularly matter now.

A rough hand was pressed to Emma’s mouth, a light but strong boy sitting on her, before she could make a sound.

Within seconds Emma found herself devoid not only of her travel companion, but also her money, and her coat. The men were gone as quickly as they had arrived. The scrawny, smelly boy, stayed behind, sitting on top of her, nodding to the others as they left.

“If you make a sound, I’ll slit your throat quicker than you can scream, got it?”

She nodded desperately. All she wanted was for him to shift his weight so that she could get him off, but he seemed to know exactly where to put pressure to. He waited another moment, head cocked to the side, until a door downstairs closed. Then he was off of her, almost flying through the window.

Shivering, Emma let out a sigh of relief.

Until the shadows moved.

A massive man had waited for the boy to disappear. He stepped out of the darkness of the door, into the pale moon light, a lecherous grin on his face. Before Emma knew what she was doing she was out of the window, running flat out in the night’s darkness, not caring that she stumbled over the uneven ground, putting all her efforts in staying upright and keeping in motion.

Soon the ground under her feet became even less regular, the muddiness of the village giving way to the brambly forest. Branches cut at her everywhere. Her arms and face stung in pain, but she hurried further away, feeling like the branches were trying to catch her, keep her from fleeing.

By the time the panic gave way to exhaustion, she was hopelessly lost.

Remembering Mulan’s stories of animals and thieves, she hastily gathered some dry branches for firewood. The fire ignited with a snap of her fingers. Another snap brought a new coat to her. Completely exhausted, she huddled into it.

Only when she was drifting into sleep did she realize that she had entirely forgotten about her magic when she had been attacked.

Regina was right. Occasionally she was very stupid.

 

* * *

 

Robin was the first to reach her. He helped her up and she let her head fall onto his shoulder, accepting the small balm of his embrace.

“Regina,” he whispered, moving his hands over her shoulders.

“You’re shivering.”

She was, mainly because she felt like crying and only barely managed to keep her tears at bay; the cold of the night having only little to do with it.

“It’s…”

Her voice broke and she sighed, unsure whether he would want to hear her answer or whether he'd be gone as soon as he understood what had happened.

“What happened?”

He looked at the empty hall, the portal gone.

Regina opened her mouth, no words coming out. She rested in his arms a moment longer, cruelly, before she stepped out of it, drawing her own arms around herself, her jacket and dress doing nothing to protect her against the sudden cold.

“It’s Emma,” she admitted, bravely holding his gaze, watching in surprise when he gave a short nod in understanding.

“She slipped into the portal.”

She expected him to step away, to look at her in horror. But he simply sighed and reached out to put his hand on her shoulder, drawing soothing circles with his thumb.

“You’re this distraught over…”

“Emma, yes,” she confirmed, confused by his calmness, which didn’t coincide with his inability to say her name.

He hadn't been able to ever since they had gotten the memories of their lost year back.

A year of easy friendship, completely devoid of romance, a year of behaving more like siblings than anything else. 356 days of memories that turned their relationship into a farce.

It truly made Regina question whatever Tink had said about soulmates. There was no denying that Robin and her got along incredibly well, but in the Enchanted Forest they hadn’t acted like potential lovers. She had grown to trust him, even hold him dear, and told him about her life in Storybrooke with Henry.

And Emma…

Tink had offered her a second chance at love.

But by the time she’d met him, there’d already been someone else for her.

And she had told him all about her.

She remembered going riding after Tink had made her declaration, trying to get a handle on her feelings. She had met a woman who had been utterly lost in the woods. The instant connection she had with that stranger had felt stronger than the link that she was supposed to have with that unknown man with the lion tattoo.

When Robin nodded at her it was in acceptance. He looked a little bit remorseful, like he regretted the future they could have had but he seemed resolved.

“It’s still true.”

It wasn’t really a question so Regina bit her lip before she nodded anyway, owing him the confirmation, although it made their relationship nothing more than a distraction from something else. His eyes were kind as he looked her over again before he shrugged his jacket off and handed it toward her.

“Go home soon, okay?“

She nodded again, but they both knew she was lying.

She felt the cold claw at her again, as the man that was supposed to be her soulmate walked away from her, because she had fallen for a woman that would never feel the same way. A woman that had, once again, gotten lost in a portal.

 

* * *

 

Emma woke to the dampened sound of hooves on humid earth. She groaned and stretched slowly, blinking a couple of times against the cold air.

Her back had not taken kindly to her improvised sleeping arrangement. When she tried to push her hair out of her face, she noticed that the dampness of the air had transformed her curls into a tangled mess. Great.

She stopped the useless attempt at detangling her hair when the sound of hooves came nearer. Emma was certain she had left the road a good long way behind her. They shouldn’t be this close...

Immediately, she scattered the remains of the fire and scrambled under a nearby bush.

It was not long before a dark horse brushed by uncomfortably close. Then it stopped.

Emma froze, utterly unable to move.

“Who is there?”

It was Regina.

She tried to sound demanding, but Emma knew the difference. Regina was terrified of someone hiding, just out of her sight. Still, the young woman dismounted.

“I can see that you’ve just left your fire.”

Panicking, Emma made sure that she didn’t look like herself. Just a second later, the young Queen stood in front of her, head tilted in curiosity, the horse’s reins in her hand. Emma had no doubt that Regina would jump on that horse at the first sign of danger.

“Hello there.”

Emma swallowed. The horse was still right next to Regina, curiously moving his huge head in Emma’s direction, effectively preventing her from even thinking about getting up.

“Oh, back Rocinante,” Regina put a hand on the horse’s shoulder and it miraculously backed away. No matter how enthusiastic Henry was to be around horses, Emma was still wary of the huge beasts.

So she automatically responded to Regina’s apologetic smile.

“Not a fan of horses?”

Emma just shrugged, slowly getting to her feet, throwing an inconspicuous glance toward Regina. She was dressed in dark riding clothes, her surprisingly long hair loosely braided, her eyes distractingly gentle as she nodded toward the horse.

“Don’t be scared. He’s very sweet.”

Like she believed that. Horses weren’t sweet.

Regina chuckled at Emma’s open disbelief, only to turn said disbelief into bewildered astonishment.

With a sudden knot in her stomach Emma realized that this Regina wasn’t yet broken. She was still trying to get away, to find a way out that wouldn’t destroy her.

Immediately sobered, Emma lowered her head in the smallest of curtsies, suspecting that Regina wouldn’t be amused by the show of subordination.

“I’m just a traveler, Your Majesty. You need not occupy yourself with me.”

Emma was right. Regina winced at the title. It was barely visible, but Emma was marveling at how much easier she was to read. There were walls missing.

Still, Regina regarded her with new suspicion.

“Well, truth be told, you are uncomfortably close to the castle, traveler.”

That got Emma’s attention. She swayed away from Regina.

“My apologies, Your Grace. I was staying in the village for the night, but…”

Suddenly unsure, Emma broke off.

She couldn’t accuse anyone. She had no proof and she didn’t want to stay for a trial or whatever they did in the Enchanted Forest to thieves.

Regina’s face changed to sympathetic realization anyway, drawing the right conclusions under the wrong circumstances.

“I understand.”

Emma shrugged her shoulders and smiled reassuringly.

“Nothing happened. I ran away.”

“Which is how you ended up here, without knowing where you are.”

It was painfully accurate, so Emma simply nodded. Regina threw a dark glance in the direction Emma assumed the village was. For a minute it seemed like Regina was about to start a tirade about thugs and thieves, but she took a deep breath and turned back to Emma, displaying a disconcertingly sweet version of her later mayoral smile, no doubt forcing herself to keep the rant about the locals in.

“Well, where are you planning to go to? I can show you the way.”

Emma realized how far gone she was when she actually considered it, despite knowing that she couldn’t possibly change Regina’s day more than she already had. She wasn’t supposed to be here at all.

The only thing she could do was desperately hope that time travel was deemed impossible, not because you couldn’t actually go back, but because you couldn’t actually change anything.

You had already been there in your past.

It was why when Whale brought back Daniel, he failed, creating a terrible zombie version instead.

You can’t bring back the dead, at least not the way they had been.

It was also, probably, why you could never make anyone love you.

You’d always know it wasn’t true.

So Emma deeply hoped neither her nor Zelena were changing anything. With a little bit of luck, Regina had already met her on this day.

Still, she bent her knee in another curtsy, suddenly glad for her drunken stunt with still cursed Ruby who had taught her how to properly curtsy in front of the Evil Queen of Storybrooke, mocking Henry’s title to the worst.

It was one of things she didn’t like to think of.

Kind of like that one time she had thought of David as being hot.

Better not think of that either.

Instead, she moved one foot in front of the other and bobbed a curtsy.

“That’s very kind, Your Grace. But it would suffice if you could just point me in the right direction?”

For a moment it seemed like Regina might object, but then she simply nodded.

“The road is that way, only a few paces ahead. You must have followed it last night.”

“Thank you.”

When Emma straightened up again, Regina regarded her curiously.

“Where is your pack?”

“Gone.”

The implication was clear. Stolen. It didn’t matter that she never had a traveling pack to begin with. It also definitely wasn’t the time to magically create one.

“Hm,” Regina made. She gathered up the horse’s reins loosely and took the lead, unasked.

Emma sighed.

And followed.

“Might I ask where you’re going?”

“To the west,” Emma answered cautiously.

“Alone?”

“My travel companion ran off as well.”

She needed to find Zelena. Maybe she could use magic to locate her.

When she was alone.

The thing was, Regina looking back at her every once in a while felt nice, familiar. Emma was out of her wits in this land and she was smart enough to admit that. If Regina had come through with her, they’d probably already be at home.

They reached the road too soon.

Regina stayed at her side and Emma didn’t protest. They walked silently for awhile, until Emma’s curiosity won the battle against her rational side.

They had already met. She couldn’t prevent that from happening anymore. They had already talked. That was done as well.

Emma was pretty sure that she had already screwed up. So she certainly couldn’t make it worse than it already was.

Her inner voice screamed at her to let Regina go, but she found herself incapable of following her own better judgement.

She knew it was stupid but she felt safer with Regina at her side.

“So, what is the Queen doing out without guards to protect her?”

“What business does a simple woman have with the Dark One?”

_Oh._

Emma stumbled and Regina chuckled.

“There is only one castle in the west.”

Emma shrugged and tried to find both, her composure and her pride.

“I need to find my traveling companion. She should be on her way there now.”

Or so she desperately hoped. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea that she let Regina accompany her.

What if Zelena was hiding somewhere, deciding to screw with her plan to get them further back and end Regina now?

So she deflected the questions back to Regina.

“Why are you spending your day with a lost peasant?”

Regina shrugged almost carelessly, holding Emma’s gaze.

“I was planning to go riding. But I found something more interesting.”

Emma caught herself before she stumbled again. She felt herself growing hot and cold. Hot because of embarrassment and…

Was Regina flirting?

Cold because Regina was flirting.

Which was very much impossible.

Emma was leaving a lasting impression on Regina. That was so not what she was supposed to do.

Emma could _feel_ her neck reddening in shock and stress.

When she met Regina’s eyes again, they were glinting with amusement, interpreting Emma’s reaction completely differently.

Truth be told, Emma was flustered.

Regina would _never_ flirt with her as openly as that.

Although the Regina she knew could wield her sexuality as effectively as her magic, this young woman seemed almost innocent.

Well, not _that_ innocent, considering her playful look.

“I was talking about the riddle of a young woman walking around in the woods alone.”

“Of course you were.”

Emma smiled knowingly while she internally cursed herself for flirting back. But then she noticed the twinkle in Regina’s eyes and her heart skipped a beat. She truly was an idiot.

Trying to get herself under control, she looked away, feigning casualness.

“Well, I told you all there is to know about me. So there really is no riddle.”

Regina only smirked, in that infuriating, superior way of hers that made Emma want to either smack or kiss her.

_Wait, what?_

“You said nothing, so there’s a huge riddle.”

Thoughts whirling, Emma tried to send her away again, suddenly longing for the peace of mind.

“Don’t you have, like, affairs at the castle to attend to?”

“No. And, just to inform you, the more you try to get rid of me, the longer I’ll stay.”

Emma should have known that. Regina’s stubbornness was nothing if not predictable.

Obviously she needed a story, and a good one at that.

“My companion and I got thrown out of our village and we want to sell our families to the Dark One to get revenge.”

Regina just laughed.

“Good one. Try again.”

Deciding to do the same she had done when her colleague from Boston had called her to ask why she had moved to a small town, Emma went with the truth, knowing Regina wouldn’t believe her.

“My companion and I come from the future. She created a time spell to kill her sister and take her place.”

This time Regina laughed even louder, putting her free hand on her stomach and throwing her head back, causing the horse to snort. Emma simply stared, transfixed. She didn’t think she had ever seen Regina laugh this way, unguarded and open.

“Okay, don’t tell me. Your choice.”

She shook her head, waving Emma away and looked at her, her smile still radiant. Emma was still staring, but in an entirely different way, finally noticing the details that weren’t right.

Regina’s eyes were red, undoubtedly from crying all night or from lack of sleep, and she obviously carried a heavy burden on her shoulders, but she was also still free enough to laugh that openly. It was a mystery, just like so many other things considering Regina.

“Is something amiss?”

“No,” Emma shook her head slowly, still stunned with her mind finally catching up to the impossible circumstances she was in.

Regina simply nodded.

After that, Emma tried a couple of times to send Regina away again. Regina kindly, but no less assertively, informed her that the Queen could walk in her own kingdom as she liked.

They spent some of their time in companionable silence, with Regina trying to trick Emma into revealing what she was up to every now and then, but mostly they talked about any and everything. Emma found out that Regina actually liked talking about her kingdom, when it was quickly discovered that Emma was a foreigner. Apparently she was more or less running things, manipulating the small council into doing whatever she thought best while her husband paraded around the kingdoms, forming alliances that he thinks are his own idea.

Emma was at the same time as surprised as she wasn’t at all. Similarly, Emma tried really hard not to be fascinated by Regina’s delight at Emma easily understood her as Regina spoke about her kingdom in metaphors and comparisons, not daring to openly disparage the other sovereignty.

Around midday Regina opened a satchel and gave Emma an apple. Her stomach was growling audibly, so Emma accepted gratefully.

This time, Regina interrupted the silence.

“You ran away, didn’t you?”

Emma nodded.

She had run away often enough and it was as good an explanation as any. Then another thought occurred to her.

“You aren’t running away, too, are you?”

“No, but I like to pretend that I am.”

“What?”

Emma didn’t know why she was shocked. From all that she knew, that made sense.

Still… She couldn’t wrap her head around Regina openly admitting that sentiment.

“You are a Queen.”

Regina stared straight ahead, eyes suddenly cold.

“Exactly. I can’t run away.”

“I would give everything to have what you have,” a familiar voice drawled ahead of them. Regina flinched but Emma smiled at her in reassurance, before she looked ahead, relieved to see that Zelena’s real appearance was still hidden.

“It’s my friend.”

“Very loosely interpreted. I’d rather classify us as fellow sufferers.”

Regina straightened her shoulders at the animosity in Zelena’s words, a familiar cold mask settling over her features.

“You know nothing of what it means to be Queen.”

“Yes, surely it’s terrible. Having people act at your command, having more riches than you can make use of, shaping an entire kingdom to your liking by raising a Princess. I’m sure it’s atrocious.”

Something dark flickered across Regina’s features at the mention of Snow.

“I would trade everything I have at once, given the chance.”

That shut everyone up. Before Zelena could say or do anything stupid, Emma made a short curtsy toward Regina.

“It was an honor to meet you, Your Majesty, but I think we can find our way now.”

They could see Rumple’s castle from their vantage point and Emma would be very happy to separate the sisters as soon as possible. She really hoped that Regina understood her desperate look.

Fortunately, Regina nodded at Emma’s dismissive tone.

“Very well.”

Regina’s eyes lingered on Emma. She seemed to struggle with herself, regarding Zelena with evident mistrust, before she turned to Emma.

"Why did you trust me?"

Whatever Emma said, she knew it would mean something to Regina, and it would make this day even more memorable than it already was. Trying to prevent that from happening, she shrugged helplessly, meeting Regina’s searching gaze with a gentle smile.

"I don't know. I just did."

One look from Regina was enough to see that she didn't believe her one bit.

Still, she gave Emma a small smile, before she nodded at them, pulled herself atop of Rocinante, and rode off without looking back.

They both let her.

Emma swallowed once, trying to chase the feeling of loss away. When she turned back to Zelena, her companion was still staring after Regina, a strange look on her face.

“She was ready to give it all up. She wasn’t lying.”

Emma shuddered at the desolate tone in Zelena’s voice. It was awful to watch her realize that, for all these years, she had hated the wrong person.

 

* * *

 

Hours after Robin had originally sent her home, Regina found herself back at the same spot, once more testing the invisible barrier with her magic.

The portal was still refusing to let her pass, but stayed open to Emma’s return.

She sighed, huddled into Robin’s jacket, and leaned against the wall, trying to gather her thoughts.

Henry was asleep in his bed. He had gone home with her after Emma’s admission, so obviously set on making a point that Regina’s heart had went out to him.

She had woken him when she had felt a portal being opened, told him she might go out, even though the magic had felt strange, feeble. He had nodded sleepily, not minding her going out again. He was old enough to stay alone for a couple of hours.

But that had been before Emma’s call.

And she hadn’t told him yet. She had still been hoping that the facts would change before he woke up.

Instead, it had just gotten worse.

Zelena had disappeared out of her cell, but no one seemed to know how or where to. The tape from the station had clearly been tempered with; Regina had felt the magic. Unfortunately, its origin had been hidden.

It was the reason she was alone now, kneeling at Zelena’s construction, trying to feel what had happened, only to drop to the ground when she felt the residue of Emma’s magic. It was like Emma’s magic always was, all over the place, uncontrolled, and shoved in every direction, carrying a vibrant reminder of her essence...

Regina pressed her lips together, set to handle her feelings like she had been for over a year now. If she didn’t validate them, they had to leave her one day or another.

She tried and almost succeeded, only to find her sister’s energy in the remnants.

To be sure, she let her hands glide over the ground, feeling, testing, not caring that her fingers were trembling, until she knew for certain.

Emma wasn’t alone.

Her legs gave out, forcing her to drop to the side.

It wasn’t a big deal, she’d already been kneeling.

But… Emma wasn’t alone.

Zelena was with her.

Had taken her back to whenever she wanted to go.

Regina raised her hand, half-expecting to watch herself shimmer out of existence.

 

* * *

 

Rumple found them in the woods before they reached his castle.

In Emma’s opinion, he could have hurried and appeared earlier.

He sneered and giggled, but stopped short when Emma laid out his carefully hidden plans for the future. It made him believe them. He was intrigued and was not very happy when Emma refused to tell him about either the time travel spell or whether his plans would succeed. He also seemed to like her magic a little bit too much and Emma was once more happy that Zelena didn't have hers anymore.

He provided a black wand for them that _should_ recreate any magic they were exposed to. There was a price, of course.

He bound Emma with a magic oath to return the wand to his future self when it had served her purpose. She didn't like the oath but Zelena assured her that it was exactly as he said and she did it, watching with contempt as the promise settled itself onto her lower arm, just below her wrist, sinking into her skin to become visible to the naked eye. Rumple assured her that only magic users could see it now.

It ruffled her when Zelena stared at her skin like she could see it.

Still, she forced herself to smile gratefully at Rumple when he handed over the wand.

She remembered the scalding heat of the portal and it lit up in front of them almost instantly. She turned to reach for Zelena, planning to knock her out with magic.

Unfortunately it was Emma who lost her consciousness when something hit her head. The last thing she saw were determined blue eyes.

 


	3. Chapter 2

Emma woke up to the smell of fir trees and a burning campfire. For a moment, she thought she was in the Enchanted Forest with Mary Margaret. She almost expected to see Mulan and Aurora sitting at the fire, but when she opened her eyes she was alone.

She groaned at the hazy light of the day. Although it was cloudy, it hurt her eyes to up look at the sky. Her head pounded like something big had hit her. There was a blanket thrown over her, and…

Right next to her was the black wand. She grabbed it and stuffed it into the pocket of her coat.

“Oh, calm down. I put it in your hands, I really don’t want it anymore.”

She whirled around. Zelena came closer to the fire, holding a dead rabbit.

“Hungry?”

Emma scrambled to her feet, feeling the anger overriding her panic.

“You! You betrayed me!”

Zelena just shrugged her shoulders. She sat down next to the fire, produced a knife out of her coat and started to flay the animal. Emma flinched.

“Can’t stand a little blood?”

She could _hear_ the grin in Zelena’s voice.

“Wouldn’t mind _your_ blood,” Emma said through her teeth. She ignored the rabbit and fixed her eyes on Zelena.

“Where the hell are we?”

“My birthday, what did you think?”

Emma trembled, her mind whirling.

“What did you do?”

Zelena avoided her eyes and shrugged carelessly.

“Nothing.”

“Really? I find that hard to believe,” Emma spat out, although there was something defeated in the way Zelena held herself, protectively drawn up shoulders, avoiding Emma’s eyes as she started talking.

“I witnessed my mother leaving me. If you shut up for a moment, you could hear me wailing.”

Dread filled Emma. Zelena actually took her newborn self?

Now that she was straining her ears, she did hear a baby gurgling. She followed the noise with her eyes. They were on a hill, overlooking a muddy path. At the bottom of the hill was a tight bundle in a basket, carefully placed near a tree, chubby arms moving out of it, grabbing at thin air.

Emma felt sick. She leaned back against a tree, keeping an eye on Zelena even while she focused on the little baby.

“I’ve been waiting for two hours. She looks fine but I want to know who sent her to Oz.”

That made Emma divert her attention back to Zelena.

“You aren’t… You haven’t...?”

“I’m not.”

The firm voice prevented Emma from speaking up again. Evidently something had happened.

For a moment they both just looked at the newborn baby, as she cooed for attention.

“Aren’t you...?”

It took Emma a moment to remember that she most definitely did not want Zelana to go near her baby self, so that she couldn’t change her decision to take the baby and exchange it with Regina.

Still, she was hard-pressed not to go down there herself. It was just a little baby, lying there, unprotected.

“She might be cold…”

“Oh, no. You said not to change anything. I’m not changing anything. I just want to know.”

That made Emma stare, hard. But Zelena occupied herself with strapping the rabbit to a stick and putting it on a simple wooden construction over the fire, carefully avoiding her eyes.

Was she playing her?

Was that already Regina laying down there?

“It’s really me. In case you’re wondering. Regina won’t be born for another couple of years. I believe she’s five years younger than me.”

“Oh.”

Besides, Emma could feel that Zelena didn’t have her magic. She couldn’t have used the wand to travel here, to Regina’s birth, and back, they’ve only made the one trip Emma opened.

So Emma changed her gaze to the squalling infant again. The baby still had her little fists raised, moving them slowly in tune with the wind that rocked the branches over her, which...

“That’s not normal, is it?”

“I’ve always had magic.”

Immediately Emma’s eyes were back on the woman across the fire, wondering, her magic looking out for Zelena’s.

“Oh, relax. I don’t have it anymore or we wouldn’t be sitting here, turning a rabbit over a campfire. The amulet focused my magic by taking it. I don’t have any left.”

“Okay…”

Zelena shook her head, the corners of her mouth turning slightly upwards. Emma had a hard time deciding what was more disturbing: The fact that Zelena was actually smiling, even deprecatingly, or the similarity to Regina in the process.

“Believe me or not. It’s your choice.”

The bleak tone confused Emma even more. Although Zelena’s casual front clearly aimed for boredom, her body spoke another language. Her shoulders were still slightly drawn forward, too rigid, her eyelashes glistened a darker red, and her cheeks pinkened in distress.

She had been crying.

Irritated by the sliver of compassion she felt, Emma frowned at Zelena.

“Alright, then.”

Emma took a deep breath and used her hands to slightly untangle the chaos on her head. It felt good to do something, even as the wind immediately nulled her efforts.

“What are you planning to do with… little you?”

“Little me?”

Apparently it was hereditary to sneer in contempt at Emma’s choice of words. Emma made a face at Zelena before she explained, receiving the smallest of involuntary smiles in return.

“There is a baby lying at the side of a muddy path and it’s not entirely warm out here.”

Reinforcing her words, she rubbed her arms while she shifted closer to the fire.

“Someone sent a magical tornado to pick her up. It will happen any minute. Just wait for dinner.”

Exasperated, Emma made a sweeping hand gesture.

“There is a little baby lying on the side of the road. We can’t just leave her there!”

“Gods in all the realms! I survived. I’m sitting right here, aren’t I?”

Emma flinched and stared at Zelena. There was no understanding the other woman. Not while her own issues raged inside of her.

Because that path down there? Was definitely not enough to be called a road.

However, while Emma might have skipped a topic or two in her psych evaluation in prison, she knew enough to see that Zelena needed real help.

But not from someone who grew up around psychotherapists and the sort, read some psych journals out of curiosity and that was it.

With Zelena, who evidently needed real help, Emma was just completely out of her depth.

However, she was glad to notice that the glare she gave Zelena at her outburst apparently still had some power because Zelena, though deeply scowling, stood up.

“Alright. I’ll go look, see if she has already turned blue from the cold. Keep turning the rabbit!”

“What?”

Zelena left with a small, exasperated sigh and Emma sat down, feeling like she was losing her mind. She wasn’t even fully awake yet. Her head was throbbing and they were, yet again, somewhere that was not _home_ , while Zelena sent signals that were all honest but completely contrary to her agenda.

Drawing her knees up to her chest, Emma closed her eyes for a second, relishing in the way the headache slightly subsided. She missed Henry.

She even missed Storybrooke, including her parents and her friends, Ruby, Ella, even Mulan, Granny, the food, and…

Yes, she missed Regina.

She decided it was better not to dwell on that particular sentiment.

Instead, she opened her eyes again, blinking a couple of times to clear her mind.

There was only one question that it boiled down to.

Did she trust Zelena?

Generally, no, of course not.

And on not trying to change her past?

There was something different about Zelena. She looked like the fight had been knocked out of her by something that happened even before they went to the past.

Her gut was telling Emma that it wasn’t an elaborate scheme but her gut had been wrong before.

She could hardly bet the survival of everyone she loved and cared about on her gut.

Right?

But she was tired and grumpy, her head hurt, and she _knew_ that Zelena wasn’t trying to screw her over.

Still, the best way to ascertain that for sure was to get Zelena to talk. So Emma straightened up and fixed her eyes on Zelena.

“How long was I out?”, she called out to Zelena who stood almost exactly where Emma had just been, looking at the wailing bundle.

“No longer than two or three hours. We don’t have watches here.”

“What a surprise,” she grumbled, turning the rabbit, cursing her stomach that actually rumbled at the smell of the meat.

The wand bit into her side as she moved, forcing herself to focus.

“How will we get back now?”

“The wand is good for other trips.”

Emma narrowed her eyes at Zelena.

“That what Rumple said?”

“Yes.”

“You made a deal with him.”

“I hear it’s a tradition in my family.”

Zelena’s voice sounded suspiciously empty. Emma tried to focus, tried to forego her curiosity, and failed.

“Didn’t you have parents? I mean, obviously someone took you in…?”

She wouldn’t think about group homes in a place like this. It had been hard enough to hear where the Lost Boys had been in the last year. She had found a couple of them with their new families, but others…

“The tornado will bring this little baby to a road in Oz, where a couple will find it. The woman will be delighted by the baby. She will be even more intrigued by its magic, trying to sell the girl’s skills for money. When it becomes clear that the girl can’t focus her powers, she will try to use any emotion to allow the girl to find control until an outburst of that magic ends with the woman thrown into a tree. The woman who never called the girl her daughter dies, leaving the young girl with a father that thinks magic is the devil’s work and doesn’t want anything to do with the girl that grew up with him. He keeps her because it is useful to have someone doing the things around the house. And maybe, he even keeps the hope that, someday, her magic will make him rich.”

Zelena shrugged while the baby wailed loudly in the background.

“But I guess it wouldn’t have been exactly better if Cora had kept her.”

Speechless, Emma simply stared at Zelena. She lifted the rabbit a little bit higher before she stood up and walked over to where Zelena stood.

“It’s horrible.”

“It seems that this is life.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

“Like you would know, Savior of the Enchanted Forest, Princess of Snow White and King David, Heir to the Eastern Land.”

Emma could _hear_ the capital letters.

“Eastern Land?”

“Did you think all of the Enchanted Forest was called Enchanted Forest? It is a name for the realm of the Woods. Barbaric, if you ask me. King George governed the East, King Leopold resided in the Middle Hills. I could tell you about the others but I have a feeling you know just how much royalty resides in Storybrooke.”

“Yeah…”

That she did. Royals had become a serious pain in her ass after the curse had been broken. They thought themselves standing above the law. Every time. Despite the system that Kathryn and David had set up, while Snow and Emma had been busy evading Cora in the Enchanted Forest.

“Exactly,” Zelena sounded smug, until they both flinched at an especially loud wail.

“You know, the baby’s still crying.”

“And you’re still pointing it out,” Zelena said. Her voice was impassive but she kept staring at the bundle of noise, her left hand kept creeping toward her neck, searching for a pendant that was no longer there.

Emma couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Maybe we should pick her up, just for a minute.”

“To do what?”

“So that she knows that she’s not alone?”

“She’s a baby. She wouldn’t even know what you want of her.”

“She’d know if someone was holding her.”

This made Zelena finally look away, before she turned around to stare at Emma.

“How would you know?”

“I know,” Emma insisted calmly. She did because for three years she had someone to hold her. And then it had been all gone. Changed into cold group homes that delivered food and clothes but not one bit of love, an interchangeable row of foster homes that were each as worse as the one before.

“What would you know…”

“About being abandoned on the side of the road? To be delivered to a group home and have a family pick you up? About growing up with a loving family who had their own child when you’re three, so they sent you back? About foster family after foster family until you run away, too young and too old for the world outside? Landing in prison because the first person you chose to love betrayed you? Yeah, I know about shitty lives.”

A small part of Emma enjoyed the surprise on Zelena’s face, but mostly she was just tired.

“I know. But that doesn’t define you. You define yourself. You have your own life in your hands. And you don’t change it by changing the past, you change it by changing it yourself.”

For a moment Zelena simply stared at her, then she raised an eyebrow, suddenly oozing superiority again.

“Was that the little speech that persuaded the Evil Queen to be your lapdog?”

Emma rolled her eyes and went back to the fire. The rabbit was a bit burned on the lower side but all in all edible.

“Regina is no one’s lapdog. She changed for her son.”

But then Regina had stood with Snow and David in the Enchanted Forest after she had let Emma and Henry go. There must have been very little chance to see Henry ever again.

“Mostly she changed for herself. But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t enjoy hanging a person in the street after they threaten Henry. She just won’t do it anymore. Regina is both Henry’s mom and what’s left of the Evil Queen; and part of her is also still that young woman we met in the forest.”

“And what part put me in prison and called Rumple to kill me?”

Emma almost dropped the rabbit.

“What?”

Zelena looked tired, waving Emma’s outrage away with a small hand gesture.

“Never mind. He tried to kill me with his dagger. Killing a witch isn’t that easy. Killing me? Even harder. I made precautions against that sort of thing, so I dissolved in front of his eyes, while my essence searched for a way to bring me back. But I also never took into account that my pendant might be taken from me.”

“So?”

“As far as I can say, my body was pulled into the last spell I enacted, the interrupted time travel spell.”

That was...surprisingly logical.

So, Rumple tried to kill Zelena. He probably thought he succeeded, if she disappeared like she said. Hopefully Regina wouldn’t try to do anything while he still had his dagger.

“I don’t really think he did it with Regina’s permission,” Emma dared to say. At first, Zelena’s gaze didn’t falter. Then she shrugged.

“Does it matter? He tried to kill me and no one prevented him from doing so. You left me alone, trapped in a cell without my magic to protect me. No one gave it so much as a thought that I was vulnerable and defenseless in a town that had suffered from me, where I turned people into monkeys and controlled the Dark One.”

Emma ground her teeth.

“Regina put a barrier around the station. Only she and I were supposed to be able to go through.”

She thought she saw something in Zelena’s eyes, but the redhead continued to stubbornly stare straight ahead.

“Apparently it wasn’t enough to keep the Dark One away.”

“Apparently,” Emma grumbled. Having Rumple running around town to exact vengeance wasn’t exactly a nice prospect. Hadn’t Belle reassured them that he was changed?

“But why would he do it? After he promised Belle not to?”

“Does a lion need a reason to kill another predator in his territory?”

No. No, he didn’t.

Fuck.

This would never stop in Storybrooke. Killing, deceit, magic threats, time travel.

Where would it end?

Emma took the rabbit from the stick and cut him open a bit more forcefully than necessary. It was very rewarding. Mulan would not be impressed by that. Aurora might congratulate her for overcoming her disgust of eating bunnies.

They hadn’t found Aurora yet. Or Philip, for that matter. Mulan suspected that they had been turned into flying monkeys and Snow had confirmed it after their memories had returned. Emma had tried but she wasn’t entirely sure how many of those monkeys they had killed.

Which was just… fucked up.

Violently tearing at the meat, Emma finally looked at the knife in her hand, wondering about the obvious.

“Where did you get the knife from and how the hell did you catch the rabbit?”

For the first time Zelena smiled, seeming haughty again.

“I stole it.”

“The rabbit?”

“No. The knife. Yesterday, at the tavern. The rabbit I found caught in a trap. We got lucky, because I honestly know nothing about the local wildlife.”

Emma gave Zelena an incredulous look. She considered asking _when_ the hell Zelena had lifted the knife, but then, if Zelena hadn’t attacked her so far, she probably wasn’t going to do it anymore.

When Zelena moved to stare at herself again, Emma concentrated on the rabbit; she had almost divided it into two portions now.

Fortunately Zelena had found some red berries and what smelled like rosemary, so the meat tasted… not as bad as Emma had anticipated.

But her stomach was empty and she has had worse.

Food wasn’t something she missed that much. She had survived on little more than nothing in more than one instance in her life.

What she did miss was watching Henry happily chugging down his food. What she longed for was looking over him while he slept. There wasn’t a thing more peaceful in the world.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Zelena until she kneeled down next to her, a decisive look on her face.

“I think you need to do it.”

“What?”

“I’ve been down to look at her. She looks like she’s freezing. I don’t think anyone is taking her into another world.”

Emma stared at her in disbelief, understanding slowly trickling in.

“You want me to create the tornado that sends her to Oz?”

Zelena nodded composedly.

“Yes.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Sure you can. You have the wand, the magic, and the knowledge. You’ve been through a portal, have you not? The wand can recreate that magic.”

“I don’t care about that. I can’t abandon a baby into a tornado!”

Suddenly Zelena’s hand was on her lower arm, nails biting into Emma’s skin.

“Yes. You can.”

For a moment Emma simply stared at the fierce expression of Zelena’s face.

Yes. She could.

And she would. Because logically? That was exactly what happened to Zelena.

If they’d been talking about baby Emma, Emma wouldn’t be able to stand it. She didn’t think she could shove herself into the wardrobe.

Unless Regina was standing next to her and reminding her of Henry.

It would be selfish but in all honestly she would hesitate, thinking about trying to save herself from the life she had been subjected to.

In the end she knew she would take it all again to have him but it was terrible enough to know that she would pause.

But this here wasn’t herself; it was Zelena’s decision.

So she grabbed Zelena’s arm and made her pull her up. She held on in a firm hold that was more confining than supporting.

“Okay.”

Emma watched Zelena swallow, but the woman that was as much an orphan as Emma herself nodded with watering eyes while Emma recalled her magic lessons.

There hadn’t been much about manipulating the elements, but after co-creating an eclipse a little bit of wind shouldn’t be too hard.

It worked so fast, Emma surprised herself. She let the wind swirl around the baby, thinking about the portal that took her from the Enchanted Forest.

“How do I make her go to Oz?”

“Imagine dozens of doors and take the green one.”

“What?”

“It’s how I did it with the shoes. Just imagine a green door; it will be the right one.”

Fairytale people and their damn faith in _fate_.

But Emma rolled her eyes and dutifully imagined opening a green door between dozens of different colored ones. She let the wind softly pick up the giggling baby and gently shoved the forming tornado through the portal. Before the baby disappeared, a protective bubble sprang up around the baby girl.

Accusingly, Emma turned to Zelena.

“I thought you couldn’t do magic anymore.”

“I can’t.”

Zelena nodded to the closing portal.

“She can.”

Emma failed to swallow a lump in her throat as a single tear made its way down Zelena’s cheek. She had seldom felt more weak and helpless than at this point, condemning an innocent baby girl to the life Zelena has suffered through.

 

* * *

 

It took Regina a moment to realize that the notion was entirely stupid.

She was not going to be wiped out of existence. Rumple had just told her so.

Thinking about Rumple it just occurred to her that he was the only one with the power to manipulate the station’s tapes. He had tried to kill her sister and failed. Zelena was with Emma, trying to wreak havoc. Who knew what side Rumple was really on?

If Emma and Zelena had landed where Zelena had wanted to go, she didn’t need much magic to do what she wanted to - destroy Regina by manipulating their mother into keeping Zelena.

Magic had no part to play in this scheme.

There was no way to know what was happening.

She could only be certain of the fact that Emma had met Rumple, and predictably he had screwed her over.

Maybe Emma had seen it coming. Maybe she would save herself.

Or she was already dead.

The only thing Regina could do was hope, which was really not her strong suit.

She needed to do something, to make sure that it was going well. There had to be a way to _know_ with this half open portal right in front of her. It shouldn’t be this hard.

Then again... There was no way to know what Emma’s presence in the past was causing. Rumple said he remembered her.

So maybe, just maybe, Emma was already ingrained in their past. Maybe she would find a way to bring Zelena back with her.

After all, Zelena didn’t have her magic anymore. She was basically vulnerable.

There was one part of Regina, the part that had only recently, with Henry’s return, started to believe again, to hope.

Besides, Emma was one of the _good_ guys; she was supposed to win, wasn’t she?

So maybe, Emma’s actions would neither create another timeline, a different universe, nor erase them all from the past; maybe she’d find a way.

So, Regina waited. For a sign that Emma was reaching out to her for help, to watch the blonde Savior stumble out of the portal with that impish grin on her face.

For that ugly feeling of doom to subside.

 

* * *

 

After the portal had swallowed both the hurricane and the baby, Emma and Zelena sat down and finished the rabbit with the red berries. Emma had lost all her appetite and mainly forced the food down because she hadn’t eaten anything all day but the apple Regina gave to her.

Her mother would freak if she heard that.

She pulled the wand out again, feeling it tremble in her hand. Whatever made it work, it wasn’t exactly nice magic. But it wasn’t like she could discuss that with Zelena.

“Now, can we go back to Storybrooke without being knocked unconscious?”

Zelena gave her an exhausted glare but nodded.

“Go ahead.”

Emma smiled and closed her eyes, remembering the hot scalding liquid. She could see the spell in front of her eyes, the bright orange structure of heat, the burning.

The orange pillar burst into flame in front of them. Zelena gestured for Emma to go first but Emma grabbed her hand to pull them through at the same time.

Her other hand was trembling with the effort of keeping the portal open.

She kept thinking of being at Granny’s with her newborn brother, Henry, Regina, Snow, David, and all the others before she had stormed out. The moment was hazy in her mind, becoming clearer as soon as they stepped into the portal.

The next second she gasped for air as the breath was knocked out of her lungs. She lost her hold on Zelena, barely clinging to the wand, and they were spit out again.

The impact was harder than before. Emma felt her head connect to a tree. She saw stars for a moment but forced herself to keep consciousness with sheer will power.

They were in the muddy forest, again.

Zelena was laying right next to her, out cold. There was blood on her temple and Emma hurriedly scrambled over to her.

“Zelena?”

She felt for a pulse and was surprised at her relief to feel the sign of life.

“What do you think you are doing?”

Regina’s voice stopped her right in her tracks. Shivering, Emma immediately cloaked both of their faces. That last amount of magic made her feel ready to throw up. She was weak, depleted of her energy.

Emma slowly lifted her head to see a hard gaze directed at her.

Her head was still swirling when she tried to place this version of Regina, one she had never wished to meet.

One, who, now that she was standing right in front of her, made her uncomfortable for entirely new reasons.

The Queen was dressed in soft, evidently high quality, tight leather that hugged her hips way too close for comfort.

Emma swallowed.

“I’m up here, dear.”

Regina was smirking at her, bowing slightly forwards, freely displaying her perfectly presented cleavage.

There were so many emotions pulling at Emma that she was too overwhelmed to say anything. She barely managed to hide the wand under Zelena’s unconscious form, staring up at Regina entirely dumbfounded.

“Now, you’ve just offended a royal decree. What is your plea?”

Emma imagined she was still looking like a deer caught in the headlights. She had not the slightest idea what Regina was talking about and she desperately hoped her spell at hiding their faces had worked, feeling that it had only changed their faces half way, given them maybe longer noses, and a different hair color but not much else.

So she tried to force all her stray thoughts and willed the wand to open a portal again.

She felt a faint pull but nothing happened. Regina was still looking at her, open amusement in her gaze.

Feeling completely out of sorts, Emma took a deep breath and turned to face her, bowing her head.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty.”

Regina’s eyes glinted, clearly delighted by Emma. Somehow Emma had the weird image of Regina winking at her, but of course the Queen wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t wink at some stranded idiot in the woods, right?

“Oh, I don’t grant forgiveness easily. But I must say, I am intrigued. You appear out of the middle of nowhere, seemingly without any help and I can feel faint magic on you. You must accept my invitation to come with me to my castle.”

Nervously, Emma looked back to Zelena.

“We will take your little friend as well.”

Before Emma could agree or disagree Regina turned around.

“Guards, seize them.”

Emma closed her eyes in dread, putting the wand in Zelena’s coat pocket. She could see that this would turn out just wonderful.

Tall men dressed in all black took them, bound ropes around their wrists and ankles, and threw them in the back of a cart while Regina climbed into her tall carriage, smirking devilishly.

Yes, they were screwed.

What royal decree had they violated? Maybe portaling was forbidden?

She asked herself whether it mattered. She could only hope that Regina wouldn’t be too curious about them until she had a little bit of rest and they found a way to escape. Surely Regina had better things to do than to interrogate some peasants that got stranded.

The only good thing was the fact that the wand was still safely in Zelena’s coat pocket.

Emma moved around in the cart but it was impossible to get even a semblance of comfortableness. Still, she somehow closed her eyes and fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

“Mom?”

It was Henry who found her the next night. She was sitting on the ground, shivering in the cold.

She gave him a shaky smile as he sat down next to her, leaning into her embrace, sharing his warmth without making her ask.

For a moment they simply stared together at the point where Emma had disappeared.

“Do you think she’ll come back?”

“I hope so, Henry.”

“But you don’t know.”

“No.”

He sighed, snuggling closer. It was strange how they both shared the same sentiment of missing Emma. She wasn’t even sure what he thought about her sitting here, so late in the night. She had tried to stay home after he had gone to bed.

Tried and failed.

After a couple of minutes of companionable silence, he spoke up again.

“Does she know?”

Confused, Regina leaned back to look at his face.

“Know what?”

“Come on, Mom. I’m not that blind, you know. I’m not a kid anymore .”

She gently put her hand on his cheek and smiled wistfully.

“You aren’t, are you?”

He gave her an uplifting smile.

“That’s a good thing, Mom.”

“I suppose so.”

She sighed and leaned back against him.

“You’ll always be my little Prince, though.”

“I know,” he laughed.

It pained her to see that he was old enough to understand and accept that she wasn’t ready to talk about what he had just revealed to her.

 

* * *

 

She was awoken roughly when they were pulled out of the cart and thrown into a dark cell. Every now and then there were torches lit in the corridor, but mostly it was dark and smelled humid. Although some straw cushioned their fall, Emma could feel the sting from her knees reverberate through her entire body. Her head was still pounding from before and she had a weird feeling that her magic had just become completely useless.

The guards didn’t say anything. They simply locked the iron door and left. Emma decided not to request anything. She needed time to replenish her magic.

Fortunately they had thrown Zelena into the same cell as her.

Emma carefully crept over to her. With her hands and ankles tied, it was difficult to move across the straw but she had been through worse. So she quickly hobbled over and turned Zelena so that she was lying on her back. She pushed the red hair out of her face and gently shook her.

“Hey,” she stopped, careful not to say a name, in case someone was listening.

“Wake up, sleepyhead. Wake up!”

Zelena shot up, eyes wide, panicking.

“What? Where?”

“Shh… Calm down. You’re okay?”

Zelena scrunched up her face.

“I am apparently not okay. Is this a cell we’re in?”

“Yes?”

“What did you do?”

Emma shrugged.

“It didn’t work, I think I… overextended myself.”

“Well, then you should have said something earlier!”

Emma nodded, crestfallen. She should have _noticed_ it earlier.

“You know that’s hard because I’m still kinda new to this entire stupidness,” Emma answered, wary of confessing that she could use magic. What if someone was listening in to their conversation? Fortunately Zelena only glared at her and dropped her head against the thick wall behind them.

“Well you certainly had a perfectly good teacher then, didn’t you?”

When Emma didn’t answer, she sighed.

“Where in the four winds are we anyway?”

Emma shrugged sheepishly.

“Regina’s dungeons…”

Immediately Zelena sat up straight.

“What?”

“We landed right in front of her feet and I have a feeling that portaling is forbidden in her realm.”

“Of course it is.”

“So she took us prisoner. But maybe we aren’t that important to her; I mean surely she has better things to tend to. So maybe I can try again in a couple of hours. It will work then. I’m sure of it.”

Her assurances only resulted in Zelena leaning close to sneer.

“What makes you think any self-respecting sorceress wouldn’t put people that fell out of thin air into magic-proved cells?”

Nervously, Emma opened her hand to conjure up a flame. There wasn’t even a wisp of smoke.

“Brilliant,” Zelena concluded. She closed her eyes and breathed heavily through her nose, clearly fighting for composure. Emma looked around, trying to find a way out aside from magic, but there was nothing but straw on the ground and the ropes that bound them.

“I should kill you right here and be done with it. As you are the only one I can get my hands on, and Regina is somewhat fond of you, it would only be fitting.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little bit extreme?”, Emma tried, hoping she understood the undertone of Zelena’s threat right and Zelena wasn’t actually pondering killing her. With Regina, she’d know that this was only a way of dealing with their situation, but Zelena...

“The thought of ripping you to pieces is quite satisfying at the moment.”

“Okay…,” Emma mumbled. To each their own. She wasn’t about to criticize Zelena’s non-existent coping mechanisms while they were trapped together in a cell. Also, she wasn’t actually sure that Zelena had actually ever killed anyone; just turned them into monkeys and almost killed people, at least as far as she knew.

“Not okay,” Zelena protested, glaring at her, and Emma decided that it wasn’t the time to talk about murder, so she let Zelena vent.

“While you were unconscious, I found my mother, stayed clear of her and even got us some supper. Whereas when I am unconscious, you find the Evil Queen and get us thrown into her magic-proof dungeons.”

“All true, but I didn’t completely mess up,” Emma dared to say.

“How?” Blue eyes focused on hers and Emma found it difficult to smile under the intense gaze. She did it anyway, feigning a superiority that was definitely not there.

“We’re alive.”

Zelena already rolled her eyes, but Emma pointedly looked at the pocket of Zelena’s coat. The other woman moved only slightly before nodding slowly. They still had the wand. Zelena looked almost relieved.

“Indeed, we’re alive.”

She closed her eyes again and leaned back against the wall.

“And fortunately for you, I need you to get away from here, so I won’t kill you.”

Zelena opened her eyes to focus on Emma, unblinking.

“Yet.”

Emma shivered.

It was one thing for Zelena to direct her anger at Emma. It was another to make her actually afraid.

Part of her was relieved when Zelena dozed off again.

Her own thoughts were whirling too much with escape plans to sleep, like how the two rusted bars looked just sharp enough to open their ropes, presumed that the rusted piece wouldn’t give in. Yet, Emma closed her eyes as well to rest them only for a moment, hoping to make the throbbing in her head subside a little. Just when she felt some sweet relief, she heard a whisper outside of the cell closest to them.

“You won’t get to escape.”

Surprised, she turned to see a dark-haired woman sitting next to her, just behind the bars, in a cell just like theirs. Weird, she hadn’t seen her there before.

“Why?”

“Because the cells are about to be emptied come morrow.”

Shocked, Emma gulped.

“Emptied as in…”

The woman nodded.

“Up on the gallows.”

“Fuck.”

That made the woman tilt her head in surprise, her long hair swinging. She was beautiful, Emma realized. She didn’t recognize her from Storybrooke, which meant that she was probably right about the gallows. Or Regina had disliked her so much that she had left her behind.

“Where are you from?”

“Oh,” Emma blinked, eyeing the woman suspiciously.

“We’re right from the land of Not-Telling-You-A-Thing.”

The brunette simply raised her eyebrows, unimpressed.

“Interesting realm. If I get a chance I’ll be sure to visit.”

Emma gave a noncommittal grunt and leaned back against the wall.

“So what did you do?”

“The Evil Queen thinks I helped Snow White escape.”

“What?”

It was obvious that Regina was already in her Evil Queen stage, but it was somehow comforting to have an inkling of the timeline. So it was before Snow had gotten to know David.

“Mh-hm. Would you believe I never even saw the Princess?”

Judging by the strange undertone in the statement, Emma did not. She closed her eyes, clearly ending the discussion. It wouldn’t do her any good to talk to some prisoner that was about to be executed.

The other woman seemed to understand her because Emma thought she heard her moving away.

 

* * *

 

“I don’t think she knows”, Regina said after Henry sat down next to her the next night, tiredly answering his question from the night before. She wondered, for a moment, whether she should better stay quiet, knowing that there are still things she shouldn’t talk about with her son, even if he was growing.

“I don’t think she does either,” he confirmed, reminding her that she had already started the topic, breaking her heart a little bit more before he smiled at her.

“I think she’s too afraid to see.”

For a moment she just stared at him, uncomprehending. Then she swallowed.

“What…”

She had to clear her throat.

“What do you mean, Henry?”

He chuckled.

“She feels the same, mom.”

Regina shook her head at the certainty in their son’s eyes.

“But…”

“Exactly the same,” he pointed out with conviction and she lost her voice.

Could Emma…?

But that was stupid.

She said as much, avoiding his eyes while she got up, and added, “In any case, I shouldn’t be talking to you about this, Henry.”

He nodded wisely, like he had been expecting her to shut him down sooner. Maybe she needed sleep.

He put his hand around her waist, walking close to her on their way home as he piped up again.

“I don’t know what we were talking about earlier, but I know what I saw when we came here from New York. The way you reacted to each other, the way Emma introduced you to me…”

Regina swallowed. She really should stop him, but instead she listened to the smile in his voice.

“I didn’t ask why we had come here because I thought I knew. You know about her boyfriend and him asking to marry her. I told you about it.”

She nodded, looking straight ahead.

“You reacted just like I thought you would. I thought you were jealous and I thought… You so clearly knew each other and you knew me. I thought that Emma had stayed with you after I was born and you had been together, until something had happened.”

Regina’s breath got caught in her throat. They couldn’t have been acting like that around each other.

“That was about you, Henry,” she explained but he just shook his head, determined.

“That’s what I thought at first, after I got my memories back, but it wasn’t only because of me. I know that now, mom.”

Staring straight ahead, Regina pondered how to react to that. Maybe (definitely) there had been an undercurrent on her side. But Emma? She had acted like…

A friend.

Something they might had been working towards before, but had never quite reached. They had worked well together as parents in Neverland, but there had never been more.

She had written off the little instances of strange behavior to gratitude. Though Emma hadn’t said it out loud, Regina knew that Emma had been thankful for the memories of a life with Henry. But it had nothing to do with Regina and everything to do with Henry.

Otherwise, Emma wouldn’t have been so set on returning to a world that included only Henry and her.

“And I won’t say anything, I promise. You can work this out yourselves.”

She didn’t dare to protest again. He sounded so happy, cheerful, like he was teasing her about something easy, something not as complicated as their reality was, but most importantly, he seemed so _sure_ that there’d be conversations in the future, that Emma returning to them wasn’t even up for debate.

Regina just hugged him closer.

 

* * *

 

“Prisoners!”

Emma jerked awake. Fuck.

She had drifted off, but it felt like she had just closed her eyes. She turned around to see that she was still shrouded in pale moonlight.

It’s the middle of the night. It’s too early…

With growing panic she looked around, only to see three guards sweep into their cell. They grabbed her and pulled her out before she could cry out to Zelena.

Or grab the wand.

She was dragged across dark stones, failing to walk properly and cursing the ropes that tied her ankles together, until she was thrown to the ground in a huge chamber. It was the second time today that she painfully landed on her knees, the dirty tunic chafing on her knees; no doubt breaking her skin.

She struggled awkwardly to stand with her limbs stiff from sitting in the same position for hours.

In front of her was a big desk with several chairs, only one of them occupied.

Regina had exchanged her leather pants for a burgundy dress, her cleavage still very much prominent. Fortunately Emma had come to her wits and kept her eyes away.

For a second she debated what was riskier, meeting Regina’s glare head on or defer to her like some meek scared woman.

The last one, definitely the last one.

Regina waved her guards outside and gestured at Emma to sit. With another gesture the rope around Emma’s hands and ankles disappeared.

“Don’t crawl on the ground like a peasant.”

Emma moved clumsily to a chair facing Regina.

“What makes you think I am not a peasant?”

Besides, she was almost sure that, by now, she stank like one. She could use magic to remedy that but she hadn’t thought of it before and now it was too late.

Somehow she thought it a bad idea to show Regina what she was capable of.

And she still needed her magic to get them away.

Regina tilted her head, slowly examining her from the muddy leather boots under the woolen skirt, the beige corset over the white blouse that, without her coat, revealed too much for Emma’s liking. Regina didn’t seem to think so as her eyes got stuck on the way up before she smirked at the mess that were Emma’s curls.

“I think you’re hiding something from me. You have a tingle of magic about you…”

Emma opened her mouth to protest but Regina waved her off.

“Don’t insult me by denying the truth.”

Internally, Emma was relieved. Regina had not the slightest idea who she was. Emma had somehow been afraid that Regina had a way of knowing that she was royalty. Still, she needed to play her role convincingly. So she fingered her blouses’ sleeves nervously, only briefly meeting Regina’s eyes, feigning shyness.

“I’m but a simple commoner, your Grace.”

Regina looked very unhappy with her answer, so Emma hurriedly continued.

“This magic was always with me but I never learned to use it.”

“Then how did you get here?”

“The Dark One, your Grace. He teleported me away after I asked for help to focus my curse.”

Emma really hoped Regina wouldn’t summon Rumple immediately. That could get very awkward. Who knew which side he’d take after he had allowed Zelena to knock Emma unconscious.

“It is a curse?”

“Yes, your Grace.”

“Oh, skip the honorific, dear. You are lying to me.”

Emma avoided her eyes.

“I promise I am not.”

She _felt_ rather than heard Regina chuckle. Shocked, Emma looked up to see Regina standing right next to her.

“No, you are. It’s brave.”

She clicked her tongue.

“Stupid, but brave.”

Emma’s thoughts whirled. She was out of ideas. She had no cover story for her magic, nor anything else. Regina was right. It was stupid, really.

So, the only thing she could do was avoid Regina’s gaze, and seem as frightened and weak-minded as a commoner would be. She knew fighting Regina was a sure way to get her attention. Instead she held her breath and made herself tremble at Regina’s closeness.

“Have we met before?” Regina questioned.

“I’m sure I would remember.” That came out entirely wrong. Her nervousness be damned. “Your Grace,” Emma added meekly.

Regina laughed, flat-out laughed. It was no free, happy laugh, more like malicious glee, and Emma felt herself truly tremble as Regina leaned in and trailed her finger across Emma’s collarbone.

“Curious scar.”

“Bar fight.”

“Oh?”

“Drunken pirate without a handle on his knife.”

It was as close an equivalent to the truth as it would get.

“Pity, marring that soft, smooth skin…”

Throat and lips dry, Emma’s tongue shot out to wet her lips before she could control herself.

There was no doubt about what Regina was doing. The question was whether she was attracted to Emma (which was ridiculous) or simply used the fact that Emma had clearly been distracted by her cleavage (which was more likely and actually quite smart).

“So, how did you come into my land?”

“As I said, the Dark One didn’t like our petition…”

But Regina just shook her head.

“No lying, dear. The Dark One respects my rules. He wouldn’t send someone into my kingdom.”

“Maybe he wanted you to think that I’m lying, so that you’d dispose of us for him.”

Regina’s face didn’t change, she was still smirking, but Emma had seen Regina’s eyes darken. There was a shadow of doubt.

“If you did come from him, maybe I could grant your petition? If you tell me, how you got hold of that delicious magic that is swirling inside of you?”

The worst thing was that Regina was still playing with Emma’s hair, and Emma had to remind herself not to blurt out that they were from the future and really only wanted to get home. She swallowed nervously, fighting for control.

A sharp knock on the door saved Emma.

“What?”

“Your Majesty?”

“Claude, I thought I made it clear that I wasn’t to be disturbed while I interrogate our prisoner.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“So, what is it?”

The door was shoved open and Claude came in, a second soldier at his side.

“Payne here has some news.”

“What news might be important enough to annoy me?”

Payne grew so pale, he looked almost green.

“Your Majesty, my fellow knights and I have sighted Snow White on the road.”

The change was immediate. The intimidating playfulness gave way to a menacing rigidness.

“Ready the horses and tell me everything!”

She rushed outside, leaving Emma alone in the huge room. Briefly, Emma hoped Regina had forgotten about her.

“You, get the prisoner back to the dungeons!”

Or not.

A young squire came in. He grabbed her by the arm and led her back down.

She paid attention to the way, glancing through the windows to find a way out of the castle.

Back in the dungeons, Zelena was awake, leaning against the bars and talking to the woman in the other cell. The squire didn’t seem to mind that they were talking; he simply opened the door, shoved Emma inside, locked the cell again and left without another word.

Surprised, Emma stared after him. He had left her unbound and by the looks of it Zelena and their neighbour prisoner had found a way to get rid of their ropes as well.

“Well, you have been gone long,” Zelena’s blue eyes looked ice-cold again.

Emma shrugged her shoulders and leaned back against the closed bars, somehow feeling uncomfortable in the tight space.

“Regina was inquisitive.”

“Oh?”

“She somehow saw that I have magic and wanted to know how.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“That I’ve always had it.”

Zelena raised her eyebrows, suspicion clear in every feature.

“She simply believed that?”

“She was called away,” Emma didn’t know why she suddenly sounded so defensive. She was neither lying nor had she actually done anything wrong.

“Called away?”

Emma narrowed her eyes at the interruption from the other cell.

“Yes. Apparently Snow White has been sighted and Regina took off to capture or kill her.”

Dismissing the other prisoner, Emma turned back to Zelena. They needed to discuss a way out of here.

“You still have it?”

Zelena nodded once, putting her hand over her cloak’s pocket.

“Are you sure?”, the woman next to them asked. Annoyed, Emma turned to her.

“Yes. She instructed to ready the horses. Now, lady, could you please let us figure out a way out of here?”

“As it pleases you,” the woman made a mock bow with her head while her sardonic smile showed strangely familiar, if distorted, dimples.

“What did you say your name was?”

The woman turned around to push some straw away and picked something up from the ground.

“I never said.”

She smirked as she walked to her door and opened the lock.

“You have a key?”

The woman shrugged innocently before she threw the key right in front of their cell. Emma kneeled down immediately, grabbing their escape through the bars. With trembling fingers she pushed the key in the lock and released them. Zelena was suddenly behind her, striding out of the cell like she was on a runway.

“While you were out flirting, I made certain we had a way out. Feel free to thank me later.”

Stunned, Emma took the wand Zelena casually held out to her and followed them outside. One prisoner begged them to take him with them. The others stayed suspiciously silent. Zelena didn’t do her that favor.

“Do tell me when we’ve passed the magical barrier.”

Trailing behind, Emma rolled her eyes while she found a safe place for the wand in her pocket, still hoping that she could make them disappear as soon as she felt her magic again.

They had just passed the first door out of the dungeons when someone whistled. Emma whirled around to find their fellow escapee leaning out of the window.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

When she grabbed the woman to pull her back from the window, her dark eyes glinted in honest to god excitement.

Emma’s heart sank as she recognized the expression, reminded of an adrenalin rush after catching a mark, only this time their lives depended on this; their lives and her family.

“Are you trying to get us killed?”

“No. I have a plan!”

“You don’t escape whistling for every guard’s attention!”, Emma accused while dragging the woman into an alcove when she heard someone approaching. Zelena pressed herself next to them into the wall.

“Follow me, if you want to get out here,” she said and ran in the exact opposite direction of the front hall. Emma sighed. She exchanged a look with Zelena, who shrugged but pointed after the woman with her chin.

While they ran after her (stupidly climbing stairs) Emma searched for her magic. The energy surging through her felt weak and incomplete, certainly not enough to get them home. She had no choice but to follow behind.

They arrived in an open corridor with big empty spaces between wide stone pillars, making them ideal targets. Emma cursed. She heard a scream and something rush through the air. Just before an arrow shot by, she shoved Zelena to the floor.

“This is suicide!” Zelena screamed, finally agreeing with Emma’s doubt.

“Just a couple of paces!” the other woman reassured them. Emma finally saw where she was leading them to. A thick rope was draped across a stone pillar, leading down in a wide, taut line, to the trees.

Emma swallowed.

“We’re very high.”

“That’s the point,” she said and produced three straps of leather, pushing one into Emma’s and the other one into Zelena’s hand.

“Watch and follow if you want to get out of here.”

Emma had judged right. The woman was crazy.

But the woman simply winked at them as she put the strap over the rope and placed her hands into bigger loops of the strap. It was barely waist-high on the pillar.

“By the way, my name is Marian.”

Frozen, Emma watched as Marian bent her knees and jumped into the air, holding on tightly, sailing away. Immediately, Zelena put her strap over the rope and leaned in.

“Wait!”, Emma warned but Zelena had already jumped. Helpless, Emma stared after them.

Marian had died. She had died escaping from Regina’s prison. The only reason Robin didn’t blame Regina was because he had seen her ride off just before it happened. She knew. She had overheard it, stopped in her tracks and listened, and that knowledge came crashing down on her with too much weight.

Emma swallowed. Zelena had already jumped. She couldn’t leave her alone, unprotected, without her magic. It was like signing a second death sentence. There had been other people with Marian, Robin had said. But Emma didn’t remember, had left, ashamed of accidentally eavesdropping...

With a deep sigh, she put the leather around the rope and sailed through the air. Her heart dropped to the ground much faster than her. Cold wind ripped at her clothes and hair and after a second, despite everything, she found herself smiling. She breathed in the fresh air and gave way to the uplifting feeling. It was exhilarating.

Too fast she was lower and lower until she saw the landing point. Marian dropped down just in front of a big tree, rolled over on the cold earth, before turning to watch them. Zelena followed her in the same fashion and Emma began to feel lucky.

Who knew?

Maybe Marian had been caught by Regina several times. After all, she had been married to a thief.

But then she heard someone yell out. Arrows whooshed through the air, just beside Emma’s head. She screamed but they passed her by, looking for a better target and finding it.

A black arrow shot into Marian's direction. Emma shouted out instinctively and Zelena moved, but she had reached the rope’s end, and Emma fell.

A sharp arrow lodged itself into Zelena’s shoulder blade. Zelena and Marian went down together. Men were coming out of the woods, shouting. Emma thought she could make out Robin.

He still believed his wife had died because of him while trying to escape.

Emma acted without much thought. She conjured a huge fireball on top of the castle’s wall. While it swept toward them, she threw herself protectively in front of the other two women. The fire exploded around them in a bright cold flame, just as she transported them away with all the magic that she could muster.

It was no orange glow but they disappeared in fire.

She hoped it was enough to convince Robin that Marian was dead. She hoped that they had been meant to be here all along.

Just like the baby girl that she had sent to Oz.

Maybe you really couldn’t change the past.

It didn’t help her whirling mind that Zelena just risked her life for a woman they hardly knew.

They landed upon a carpeted cold floor and Emma immediately scrambled to Zelena, helping her to sit up. Zelena scrunched her face up in pain but allowed Emma to look at the arrow. It had speared right through both, coat and blouse, and was lodged deeply into Zelena’s shoulder; unfortunately it didn’t come out on the other side.

“Who are you?”, a familiar voice breathed behind them, clearly aghast at being surprised. Emma turned her head toward Belle with a forced smile.

“Hey Belle, could you be so kind as to get Rumple?”

Belle looked, if possible, even more stunned, but she nodded shortly, breathed ‘As you will’ and turned around to leave. Maybe their sudden appearance wasn’t as unusual as Emma thought.

“Where are we?” Marian gasped while Zelena whimpered as Emma softly placed a hand just under Zelena’s collarbone. She couldn’t feel the tip of the arrow and she had no idea how to get it out.

“We’re in the Dark One’s castle,” Emma answered without looking at her. Given the sharp intake of breath, Marian knew who she was talking about.

Zelena suppressed another pained moan while Emma tried to move the coat. Quickly Emma moved her hands away.

“Okay, I’ll wait. Rumple will know how to heal you.”

Desperate blue eyes met hers.

“Yes, but why would he?”

“Indeed, why would he?”, Rumple mirrored her, suddenly standing beside them. Marian scrambled as far away as possible, until she was stopped by the castle’s wall.

“Do you remember us?”

“No, dearie, I don’t think I do,” he sang, holding out his hand. The black wand struggled in Emma’s pocket and flew out.

“But I do remember this.”

“You made me swear a blood oath to return it to you once it has served my purpose. It hasn’t, yet.”

He sprang forward, quickly catching Emma’s hand in his and turning it around. There, on the inside of her lower arm, glowed the black magic of the oath.

“You speak the truth, child,” he observed, clearly surprised.

“What else can you tell me?”

“Nothing. You forbade it. We’re from the future and you said you’d help us get back.”

“And yet you tumble into my castle again.”

He cocked his head, his eyes sweeping over the three of them.

“You,” he pointed at Marian “You don’t seem to know what they’re talking about.”

“I don’t. I have nothing to do with them. I didn’t do anything wrong. Just let me go.”

“You can’t let her go. Her husband and son think her dead in the future.”

“Oh, dear. What a conundrum you’ve gotten yourself in.”

He wiggled his eyebrows while his hand shot forward and a blue static energy froze Marian in her movement.

“Now, as for you two…”

He turned back to Emma who swallowed drily. Her heart beat twice as fast in fear of the darkness in his golden eyes.

“You promised to help us get back. Can you heal her?”

“I can. But why should I? My forearm doesn’t have a magic oath tattooed on it.”

It was one thing to _know_ that Rumple might screw them over, it was an entirely different thing to feel his cold eyes on her, fully knowing he couldn’t care less.

Emma cursed herself for bringing them here, but it wasn’t like she had a choice in the matter.

Her magic still felt weak and she had used just about everything to get them here.

Rumple leaned down towards her, golden eyes shining mischieviously.

“Will you tell me what you are?”

“The product of true love,” she whispered, hoping to appease him.

He raised his eyebrows but shook his head.

“No, not even that could change the past. You did.”

His tone wasn’t accusing, it was matter-of-factly, and it made the hair on Emma’s arms stand up in fear.

“Who helped you?”

Confused, Emma stared up at him. His unblinking gaze made her feel uncomfortable and she felt herself shifting in front of Zelena before she made a conscious decision to do so.

Of course he raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

He tapped his chin a couple of times, clearly thinking, before he sighed.

“Well, that simply cannot be done.”

With a wave of his hand they were transported to a vast room, trinkets on shelves all around the walls. Zelena groaned in pain as Emma let her eyes rove over the walls. There wasn’t a door in sight.

“Don’t waste your time looking for a way out, dearie. There isn’t one.”

“So, how do we get out of here?”

“Well, with me of course.”

He waved again, lifting the stasis Marian had been in.

“You are in my vault. Only the most dangerous thingies are in here.”

Moving over to Emma, he fixed her with a clear threat in his eyes.

“Changing the past is dangerous. You are staying here until I figure out a way to deal with you.”

“We can’t!” Marian protested loudly. “My husband and son will be missing me!”

Something flickered across Rumple’s features before he shrugged.

“They will think you dead. It’s kinder that way. This room is out of space and time. You won’t even notice the time that passes.”

He turned around, smoke engulfing him. As he disappeared he muttered.

“Changing the past. I’ll have to look into that, interrogate them later.”

Just as he was gone, the black wand appeared on the shelf next to them, undoubtedly where it had been stored before he had given it to them.

Marian stared at them, clearly shell-shocked. Zelena focused on the wand.

“Take it and try.”

“I feel like an empty battery.”

Zelena just rolled her eyes.

“Even I can feel the magic surrounding us. Use it!”

Gulping, Emma stepped forward and picked the wand up. She brushed an ice-cold urn next to it, but gave it no mind, not noticing how it started to wobble.

When she turned around, Marian stumbled away from them, her eyes wide, panicked.

“What are you doing?”

Emma forced herself to smile soothingly, trying to appease the woman. It worked, Marian’s shoulders sagged, the tension disappeared.

“I’m really sorry, Marian, but you were supposed to die. The woman who saved your life is about to die, if we stay here. I need us to get home and you need to come with us.”

Marian shook her head vigorously.

“No. My son and my husband…”

“Are right with us in Storybrooke. I promise you.”

“But you said you were from the future. How many years have passed?”

Zelena chuckled, but Emma threw her a warning look.

“Roland is five.”

It didn’t calm her at all.

“No, that is too long. He won’t even know me. I won’t come.”

Emma shrugged. She reached out for a silver club laying to her right and hit it over Marian’s head.

“Have it your way.”

Zelena didn’t even blink when Emma gave her the wand so that she could pick Marian up and place her across her shoulder.

“Why, you look just like you are used to carrying unconscious women around, Princess.”

Emma rolled her eyes.

“Can you get up on your own?”

“Of course. It’s not like I have much of a choice now anyway.”

That much was true. Emma winced as she watched Zelena get up, flinching and shivering in pain. She accepted the wand and closed her eyes in concentration.

Home. She wanted to get home. Where she wouldn’t have to deal with precarious things like this on her own, because Regina was far better than her with magic and ruling a town. Emma would only be responsible for the town’s safety not its entire magical protection. And maybe she would even be able to leave Zelena’s sentence to someone other than herself. Probably not Regina. She didn’t seem very fond of her sister.

But Emma thought of her, smiling as they had dinner with Henry, Snow, and David before all hell had broken loose. They had all seemed so happy, even Henry had relaxed in the stranger’s company, maybe sensing on some unconscious level that he had been with his family.

Family.

Emma felt the familiar sting at the word, surprised how it still grew fainter, now that she was learning what it meant to have a family, now that she had years of memories of being a family with Henry.

She thought of the beginnings in Storybrooke, about green eyes begging her to stay, Mary Margaret offering her a home, and Regina asking her to help, their interactions changing after they had nearly lost Henry the first time.

Her eyes flew open when she felt the scalding liquid in front of her. Zelena gestured for her to go first, to direct the flow of the energy, and Emma did, thinking about her little brother. He was her time determinator.

Smiling, she secured Marian on her shoulder and made sure that Zelena was following her.

Blue energy followed into the orange one after them, but neither noticed.

 


	4. Chapter 3

Emma stumbled out of the burning portal, ears ringing, her entire skin tingling with the magic that pulled her out of the portal and back home. Tired and empty of her own magic, she didn’t hesitate to accept the other magic that helped her over the last steps.

First, she gently laid Marian down, then turned to watch Zelena drag herself out, the orange glow growing fainter behind her.

“Hey,” Emma rushed forward to help Zelena sit, almost faltering when the magic pulled her away from the receding portal.

“It’s okay. Wait here, I’ll get help.”

“I’d much prefer that. Though, be so kind and don’t ask Rumple for help. I fear he’d still rather like to see me dead.”

Emma nodded at that, hesitant, finally recalling the reason for Rumple’s ire.

She shook her head and walked to the exit.

Zelena was hurt. She deserved to be on trial, imprisoned. Killing her wasn’t the answer.

As she walked out of the hall she kept her eyes on the ground, following her instincts that lead her outside, searching for her phone. She might get lucky, it might be still on the ground.

“Emma?”

Surprised at the awe with which her name was said, Emma looked up.

“Regina?”

Before she could say anything else she was tightly embraced by strong arms.

“We thought you were lost…”

Shocked, Emma tensed up and Regina pulled back.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…”

Emma looked Regina over curiously. There were dark shadows under Regina’s eyes, her face vulnerable without much make-up, part of her hair was mussed and if that wasn’t enough, she was dressed in tight dark jeans and a dark comfy sweater. The only familiar item was her black coat.

Self-consciously Regina tugged at her sweater. She seemed thinner than Emma recalled, worn down. Without thinking about it, Emma reached for her arm and squeezed softly.

Regina swallowed before she looked up again.

“How…?”

For a moment Emma just smiled, happy to be safely back in Storybrooke. Regina blinked in confusion and Emma remembered what was going on.

“Zelena. She’s back in the hall. She’s wounded and needs help.”

Confused, Regina simply stared at her.

“What?”

“Short version?”, Emma asked. Regina nodded, clearly shell-shocked. Grinning sheepishly, Emma started without Regina’s acquiescence, still holding her hand and drawing soothing circles on her skin.

Emma felt disturbingly calm. She had managed to come home and home looked, as far as she could judge, just the same, especially now that she was looking into Regina’s strangely compassionate eyes.

“Rumple tried to kill Zelena in her cell. She says she took some precautions and as a result, it took her to the last spell she left half-finished. It made the spell work. I was close and got drawn in. We were actually in the past, but apparently one can’t change the past. Turns out that you were already there, doing the same things as you did before.”

Regina drew her eyebrows together and Emma laughed.

“Yeah, don’t overthink it. I think we should call an ambulance for Zelena though.”

Remembering the other woman in the barn, Emma drew her hand back.

“There’s another thing I have to tell you, though.”

Regina sighed but nodded at her to go ahead. Emma wasn’t sure what hurt more. The familiar gentle exasperation that clearly expected her to have screwed up or the certainty that Regina would be able to fix it.

Emma swallowed nervously, trying to rid herself of the lump in her throat.

“When we tried to get back to our time, I didn’t have enough magic left and we landed somewhere we didn’t even want to be. We changed something, saved someone’s life.”

“You just said, you can’t change the past…”

Uncertain, Emma shrugged.

“I don’t know, either. Still, we saved someone’s life. Her family had to remember her dying and what I know of it, they do, but…”

“You brought someone with you…?”

Chastised at the shock in Regina’s voice, Emma nodded.

“I didn’t know what else to do…”

When Emma dared to look up again she found Regina closely scrutinizing her.

“So why do you look so guilty?”

Emma took a shallow breath and gave a shaky smile, bravely holding Regina’s gaze.

“It’s Maid Marian.”

Watching Regina flinch, Emma felt beyond terrible.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You say you saved her life. That is a good thing to do.”

Still, Regina didn’t look at her but walked by her with brisk steps.

“Let’s have a look at my sister, alright?”

Head down, Emma followed her.

 

* * *

 

The great reunion occurred at the hospital. Snow shed crocodile tears as Emma moved in first to hug her of her own accord.

Someone had called Robin who came in slowly, carrying Roland on his hip. His eyes found Regina’s first over the crowd that welcomed the Savior. She nodded, reassuring him, and he crossed the room with big steps.

“This is no cruel trick of the witch?”

Regina shook her head, smiling at Roland whose eyes were huge, and answered the father.

“No, it isn’t. She’s in the next room, Whale is checking her vital signs. Apparently she was knocked unconscious.”

“But… How?”

Unsure herself, Regina shrugged helplessly.

“I guess Emma brought her with her from the past. You’d better ask her for the details.”

His eyes flickered in Emma’s direction but, predictably, he abstained from joining the big throng of welcomers and moved to the emergency rooms instead.

“Room?”

“Two,” Regina answered, watching Robin go and winking at the little boy who looked at her with uncertainty.

With a stab she realized that she had allowed Roland to become too close to her. He probably didn’t distinguish between his memories here and in the Enchanted Forest. For his sake, she hoped that she and Robin could somehow find back the easy friendship they had in the last year.

When she turned back to the room, Emma’s eyes found her immediately, concern plainly written on the blonde’s face, even though she was tightly hugging their son.

Regina smiled, trying to convey that everything was alright.

It only made Emma frown until Henry pulled her attention back to him. Snow went back to fussing over her, and Charming cradled her head with his hand.

Regina rolled her eyes, even while she was smiling at the scene.

She left them to their reunion and went to look for Zelena.

The arrow in her sister’s shoulder had looked familiar to her and a sheepish look from Emma had confirmed that it had come from Regina’s castle. They were laced with a poison that made it hard, if not impossible, to heal with magic. Fortunately, it also didn’t kill. Not like a good placed arrow wouldn’t do the job anyway.

So they had taken her back to the hospital.

Dr. Simius had already stitched her up after giving her some pain medication that had rendered her unconscious. He had reassured her that Zelena would survive.

He had also insisted that they strap her to the bed, so that she wouldn’t be able to attack anyone when she woke up.

Regina seriously doubted that Zelena actually had any physical strength. She was probably used to relying on her magic even more than Regina had.

After all, Regina had spent 28 years without it. Zelena was just at the start of her life in a town full of at least, very wary, at worst, _good_ people, feeling self-righteous.

Even if they somehow allowed her to go, it wouldn’t be easy.

Regina sighed, contemplating whether she would be able to speak out for her sister, whether she _should_ , when Zelena so obviously hated her and held her responsible for everything that had gone wrong in her life.

And yet, when Regina had knelt down next to her, Zelena had allowed her to get close enough to inspect the wound, close enough to try and heal it. Instead of protesting, she had regarded her with an unfathomable look on her face.

It had been eerie.

Noticing how vulnerable Zelena looked in that hospital bed of hers wasn’t exactly helping either.

So Regina sighed and stared, murmuring to conjure a protective barrier that would at the very least keep everyone out who’d seek to harm her sister.

 

* * *

 

Emma found Regina leaning against the doorframe to Zelena’s room. As far as she could see Zelena was asleep in her bed and Regina was lost in thought, staring straight ahead past her sister.

But Regina hadn’t been idle. There was a protection spell around the room, though somehow Emma felt like she’d be able to enter it. Maybe it was only for Rumple or something like that.

“Hey.”

She leaned against the other side of the doorframe. Regina looked her over, clearly taking in the details of Emma’s commoner clothes, lingering at the revealing blouse for a moment. Emma blushed as Regina smiled and raised an eyebrow.

“Do I even want to know?”

“Ugh. Wait…”, Emma snapped her fingers; jeans, shirt and leather jacket replacing the commoner’s clothes and the dirt, immediately feeling better.

“Why didn’t anyone say something earlier?”

“Because they’re used to it, I’d wager…”

Emma rolled her eyes at the comment before she nodded in the direction of the patient.

“So, how is she?”

“Asleep. The painkillers should put her out of commission for the night. It wasn’t an easy operation but she’ll make it.”

“Good,” Emma nodded, nervously shifting her weight until Regina sighed.

“Go ahead.”

“What?”, Emma squeaked, hating how breathless she suddenly sounded.

“You were working up the courage to ask me something. Just go ahead.”

For a moment Emma simply stared at Regina, dumbfounded. Then she cleared her throat, searching for words.

“Yeah, okay. Ehm, everyone is thinking about celebrating at Granny’s and, well… I was wondering whether you’d like to, you know, come as well?”

Regina smiled at her and all of Emma’s nervousness disappeared. It had been the right decision to seek her out. Emma answered Regina’s smile with one of her own before she shuffled her feet. She looked away quickly until she fixed Regina with an attentive gaze.

“So, how are you? If I may ask?”

“Fine,” Regina answered.

“Aside from…”, she looked toward her sister and shook her head.

“Well, aside from that situation, I am fine.”

“Really?” Emma blurted out, the disbelief plain in her voice. She winced at her own forwardness but Regina just looked at her like she was genuinely confused and Emma swayed back. She surely wasn’t going to ask about Robin. If Regina didn’t want to talk, Emma wasn't going to press it.

“Well, I’ll see you later?”

Finally, Regina nodded.

“Of course.”

Emma grinned. Trying to lighten the mood, she nodded toward the grey haired doctor down the corridor.

“So, who’s Dr. Simius?”

It was an old game of theirs, one that had gotten them through most of Neverland, one that Regina usually tried to deflect, respecting (and probably secretly enjoying) when people wanted to keep their Storybrooke identities, but now her grin deepened, seeming almost coy.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Emma stared at her, open-mouthed, when a door down the hall opened and a child stormed out, kicking at the door. Tears were running down reddened cheeks while he was loudly complaining in incoherent sobs.

“Roland?”

Regina kneeled down immediately to catch the little boy safely in her arms, effectively stopping his escape. Robin appeared almost immediately behind him.

“Regina…”

His eye twitched when he noticed Emma and he ignored her. Emma frowned; she had thought they had gotten along, working together to find Little John, getting some insight on Zelena. She gave him a sympathetic smile but he focused on Regina instead, gesturing toward his son.

“He doesn't understand, he doesn’t recognize her… Would it be okay if…? Can you take care of him for a little bit…?”

He nervously ran a hand through his hair and Emma felt bad for all of them. Obviously reuniting Roland with his mother hadn’t gone as well as they’d hoped. Regina gave Robin a curiously guarded smile and nodded.

“Of course, I will take care of him. You can pick him up from Granny’s later.”

“Oh, good. Thank you.”

He leaned in to kiss Roland goodbye, but the boy huddled into Regina’s embrace, mumbling at his father to go away. Robin gave Regina a pained smile and, with a terse nod towards Emma, went back into the hospital room, leaving Emma to stare after him in confusion.

She was definitely missing something.

But she had only been gone for a couple of days... hadn’t she?

 

* * *

 

Regina arrived at Granny's much later than she had planned, Roland still clinging tightly to her hand.

It had taken an unreasonable amount of time to calm the boy down. She even had to get him into new clothes because he had spilled his apple juice all over him in so great a fashion that it had required a bath.

All of it was directed as defiance against Marian, a mother he had never known as a real person. Neither Robin nor Marian had taken their son’s confusion into account before throwing him into the arms of a woman he didn’t recognize.

He had clung to Regina, wailing and throwing tantrum after tantrum, until Regina had managed to calm him down. As soon as he had quieted he had wanted her to promise not to die. Ever. Regina had stroked his hair back and agreed not to die.

She was in his life now, for better or for worse, and she would help him to deal with his new reality as much as she could.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite sure how much Roland understood. They had been open in their relationship before they got their memories of their friendship back.

For the first time she had an inkling how everyone must have felt after the first curse had broken, torn between the truth and how they had lived for the last years.

The truth was that soulmates or not, she and Robin had connected immediately in the Enchanted Forest, their conversations remarkably easy. Robin had managed to weasel his way in, she had even talked about Henry with him. He had understood loss and pain more than anyone should have been able to.

They had taken to spending their time together, she had enjoyed the reprieve from Snow and David.

Only… they had treated each other like friends, no questions asked.

Regina had been torn up by leaving Henry behind, by leaving Emma behind, and Robin had sympathized with her loss.

Roland had been taken with her from the moment she had saved his life.

Or because she gave him a stuffed monkey.

One could never know with children.

Still, Roland had adored her. After their memories had been returned he had told her that he remembered her now and opened his arms, happy to snuggle in as she hugged him. Robin had stood at their side, the stony expression on his face betraying nothing. Regina had known even then that they wouldn’t work, but she had begged him to try. They had the assurance of being soulmates. Tink had told her that he was her second chance at love.

Regina was still amazed by herself that she had opened herself up to him so quickly in Storybrooke but then she had seen the tattoo and relied on their instant connection. Their relationship had been so easy, so effortless.

It had been a soothing balm against her little Prince greeting her with a handshake, his eyes painfully devoid of recognition, while his mother’s green eyes regarded her with a sympathy that looked like more, seemed so much like more that she could _almost_...

“Will Papa be at Granny’s?”

Regina smiled down at Roland, amazed how easily he had come to trust her, in both instances.

“He will be there later to pick you up.”

“Promise?”

Swallowing, Regina nodded.

“Promise.”

Finally happy, Roland bounced ahead. Regina shook her head at his sudden mood change.

She didn’t notice the young woman standing in the shadows until Roland ran into her.

“My apologies, little one.”

That got Regina’s attention. Roland commented on the weird clothing of the woman and Regina had to agree. She was wearing a flowing blue dress that looked too thin to warm her. Long, blonde hair was in a loose braid, her features even and her shaky smile disturbingly genuine. Still, the woman, or rather, the girl, was definitely not from here.

“Roland, come back to me.”

Only when she had him safely secured on her hip did Regina breathe again.

“Who are you?”

But the girl held up her hands.

“I mean you no harm.”

It didn’t take a genius to suspect that Emma had indeed brought something more than just Marian and Zelena with her.

It _did_ take some observational skills to realize that the girl knew them, all of them.

Bluntly, the girl admitted that she came from the Enchanted Forest. It couldn’t be a coincidence, considering Emma’s recent trip. After she had admitted where she was from, the girl tilted her head with a gentle smile, conveying how easily she put her trust into Regina. It was unsettling.

“Any idea how to get me back?”

“Simply tell me what time you are from, dear. Then we’ll go into Granny’s and make Emma deal with the mess she created.”

The girl scrunched up her forehead while Roland leaned expectantly forward.

“Emma?”

“The Savior,” Regina explained, hoping that the girl would accept that title. “She caused a time rip. I’d wager that’s where you’re from.”

But the way the girl slowly shook her head made Regina suspect that she had read her wrong.

“No. Emma went into the past. I’m from…”

She barely caught herself, leaving only one conclusion for Regina.

“The future?”

The way the girl guiltily closed her eyes made Regina shudder. What kind of mess had Emma gotten them into?

With a comforting smile, she lead the way into Granny’s, immediately making out Kathryn and Frederick in one of the booths. She rearranged Roland on her hip, gestured toward the girl next to her, and was relieved when Kathryn nodded at her silent request.

So Regina set Roland down and sent him over with the promise of dinner with Kathryn, glad for the times Robin had been running around with his Merry Men while Roland had stayed with her and Kathryn in their office. She doubted there were many others Roland would accept today.

When she turned around again, she was surprised by the intense gaze of the girl.

She pushed the loose strands of her white blonde curls back, her blue eyes filled with a longing that Regina recognized all too well.

It was the same look Regina had given Henry when he had no idea who she was.

Only she was looking at the entire Charming family. Henry was sitting in a booth with Snow and David, waving with a bright smile now that he finally caught Regina’s gaze. She smiled at him, following the girl’s look at Emma, who was smiling down hesitantly at the little baby she held in her arms.

“You know us.”

The girl looked caught, affirming her suspicions. She was insultingly easy to read, but then she jutted her chin out, adopting a haughty expression.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Regina sighed. Time travel was dangerous and stupid and this was just a child.

“Well, let’s get you over to the Savior and hope she knows how to send you back to your time and your…”

She was fishing for information, but the girl just stared past Emma.

“My family.”

The sadness in the bright eyes was hauntingly familiar. Regina swallowed, placing a hand on the girl’s arm for reassurance.

She stifled a gasp when she felt the magic surrounding her.

This was wild magic, something she had never seen before.

She only hoped that the girl knew how to control it.

Otherwise they should make sure to send her back as soon as possible and keep her calm until then.

The girl closed her eyes for a moment at the contact, her mouth moving into a faint smile, before she straightened her shoulders.

“How old is Prince Bae?”

Regina frowned at the honorific. It was clever but certainly only meant to throw her off.

“A few days,” she answered, confused at the silent “Oh” that followed that declaration.

Maybe the girl knew the adult Baelfire, or maybe she was even running around somewhere in Storybrooke at this very moment.

“Regina?” Emma pulled her out of her reverie, greeting her with a radiant smile that quickly grew subdued. Regina would never understand that woman.

Instead she pulled the girl with her toward the Charming family.

“Look what else you brought with you, Emma.”

Emma’s lips parted as she took the girl in, clearly in shock. Shock that Regina completely understood when the girl lifted a hand to wave at Emma, breathing a nervous “Hi” that was eerily resemblant to another first meeting.

“From where?” Emma asked, her voice rough and she coughed once, clearly fighting for composure.

Her gaze drifted from the girl to Regina and back.

“The future,” Regina answered when the girl stayed silent.

The Savior took a deep breath and handed her brother over to their mother before she turned to the girl again, fiddling with her pendant, mussing up her blonde curls in nervous agitation.

Regina tried to smile at Emma, exuding calmness. Emma’s eyes just traveled into the direction of Roland and she frowned before she shook her head, clearly trying to evade a thought of hers. Confused, Regina noticed Emma’s hand moving to an invisible satchel that was tied to her jeans’ belt.

It was badly concealed but only Rumple or Regina would see the clumsy magic that Emma had woven. Raw power obviously counted for something. Regina wondered whether the object Emma was hiding had helped her back to them.

“Okay…”

Taking a deep breath, Emma lead the girl to a free booth. Regina followed unasked, unable to read the look Emma directed toward her. She sat next to the blonde anyway. Emma shuddered but was focused on the girl.

“So, what’s your name?”

The girl defiantly crossed her arms.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“By all means, you shouldn’t even be here, kid. Until we send you back, we just need something to call you.”

Opening her mouth twice and closing it before making a sound, the girl shrugged.

“Kristen.”

Emma narrowed her eyes at her but nodded.

“Okay, Kristen. Now, how did you end up here?”

“I don’t know.”

Regina cocked her head in disbelief, noticing Emma doing the same.

“No, really. I was…”

She flinched and hesitated. Regina watched Emma reach out, putting her hand on the girl’s arm.

“It’s okay. You can trust us. We’ll get you home.”

“Yes, I know, but…”

Kristen stopped and Regina understood the suspicious look that was directed at her.

“It’s okay, I don’t have to be here, you can talk to the Savior alone.”

Regina stood up to leave but a hand on her forearm held her back.

“No, it’s… Me.”

“You?”

Aside from her magic, the girl bathed in innocence.

And yet… there was a pain in the blue eyes, a pain that cut too deeply for such a young woman, that looked too familiar.

“I…”

Kristen cleared her throat. Her eyes were still locked with Regina’s when she found her courage.

“I did something unforgivable because I lost control over my magic and Rumpelstiltskin captured me in an urn. The last memory I have is my sister begging him to leave me alone…”

For a moment they were all silent.

Then Regina swallowed and, following some inexplicable instinct, reached out to brush a stray hair from Kristen’s face. She briefly squeezed the girl’s shoulder and sat down next to her.

Immediately the girl swayed closer to her, her shoulders shaking. Regina moved to embrace her, stroking comfortingly over the trembling back.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s really not…”

“If you didn’t know how to control your powers, whatever happened wasn’t your fault,” Regina pointed out, exchanging a pointed look with Emma, silently asking whether she knew how to send her back. Emma was nibbling nervously on her lower lip but nodded.

The girl didn’t notice their silence exchange, still agitated. She turned to face Regina.

“It was. I should have been wearing my gloves, I should have stayed at home, but I had gotten so good with my control. I was just…”

Regina was almost glad when the words turned into intelligible sobs. She didn’t know how much of this they were supposed to know. She met Emma’s shocked eyes over the girl’s head.

“I…”

Emma lost her voice and tried again.

“I bumped into an urn in Rumple’s vault. He said it was outside of space and time, so that he could store us in there until he knew what to do with us.”

That sounded like the little imp.

Sympathy for the girl’s fate turned into cold anger at Rumple. No matter how powerful the girl’s magic was, there was no reason to store a human being in a vault just for kicks. Just like there was no apology for trying to kill a woman who had already been imprisoned.

They were, once again, Rumple’s puppets, dancing to his song.

With his son taken out of the equation there was no telling what he was going to do next. If the future imprisonment of this girl was any indication, Regina didn’t want to know what he was going to do now.

She met Emma’s curious gaze.

“We _need_ to finally deal with him.”

That put Kristen up short. Her eyes were wide in fear.

“You can’t! Killing the Dark One would mean to become him. You can’t kill him! You can’t!”

This time it was Emma who reached out to calm the girl.

“It’s okay, kid, you’re right. We won’t try to kill him, okay? I promise, okay? I promise.”

Kristen’s shoulders slumped in relief.

“Good.”

She dropped her head against Regina again, evidently exhausted. Now that Regina thought about it, she noticed the paleness of Emma’s skin, a redness around her eyes, wondering when, during her time travel, Emma had actually slept.

She needed to ask Emma how she had managed to come back, but judging by how low Emma’s magic was running, there was no chance that the woman would be able to repeat the trick today.

“Maybe we should figure the rest out tomorrow?”

Kristen nodded against her shoulder and Emma looked simply relieved.

“Should I stay at Granny’s tonight? I don’t think I have any money with me.”

Regina and Emma exchanged a look, silently agreeing. Rumple was currently unpredictable and in the future a threat to the girl.

Besides, with the raw magic the girl possessed there was no telling what she was capable of, no matter how innocent she seemed.

She needed to be watched, as much for their own safety as for hers.

“No, you can stay with me, if you want,” Regina offered and Kristen’s eyes lighted up at the suggestion.

“I’ll get Henry,” Emma left before Regina could protest. So she smiled at Kristen.

“It seems we’re getting company.”

The girl laughed and Regina was amazed at the free sound. No matter what burden was on Kirsten’s shoulders, someone had managed to keep her protected from it.

At the mention of company, Regina decided to call Robin and ask him how they were doing. She wouldn’t want to think about how Marian must be feeling right now. It was bad enough for her to be reminded of Henry’s blank looks.

So she agreed when Robin asked her to keep Roland for the night.

She considered it for a moment, debating whether to tell Emma that she and Henry should stay with the Charmings for the night, but in all honesty, Emma and her were more powerful than the girl. Should anything happen, they’d be able to control her.

Roland was delighted, Kathryn gave her a worried look and Frederick frowned at her. Contrary to his wife, he hadn’t forgiven Regina for cursing them and he was always ready to show it.

She smiled at him nonetheless. Emma gave her a curious look as she returned with Roland but was soon distracted by the goofy faces Kristen made at Roland, putting up a show not only for the little boy but for Emma and Henry as well, quickly dissuading Regina from the idea that she could be a danger, at least not actively.

Even with wild magic, she only needed to be taught control. She didn’t seem inclined to use it for destruction.

Unless her magic was uncontainable, then locking her up might have been unkind but not entirely unwise.

They had to look into it. If worst came to worst they just had to send her back to her little urn, but maybe they could help her, maybe they could teach her control and send her back to safety.  
  


* * *

  
Fortunately for everyone, Roland fell asleep on the way back and upon entering the house Henry took him from Regina’s arms to put him to bed. Regina was both, glad that she had Henry’s old bed set up in a guest room from the few times Roland had spend his nap time with her and nervous to have to deal with Kristen now.

The girl stopped in the entrance hall, taking in every picture like she expected a different scene while Emma was struggling with her boots.

Rolling her eyes, Regina snapped her fingers, making the boots stand neatly next to the rest of their shoes.

Only, Emma yelped, almost slipping with her sock-clad feet.

Regina smirked.

Emma glared.

Kristen cleared her throat.

Both adults flinched, but Regina collected herself first and led both of them into the living room.

Again, Kristen’s eyes hung on every little detail. She smiled wistfully before she noticed Regina’s attention and struggled to feign indifference.

“You’ve been here before, kid?”

Surprised, Regina and Kristen turned to Emma, who had collapsed on the couch, her posture indifferent, while her eyes were just as focused on the girl as Regina’s.

Kristen shrugged.

“I might have.”

Emma sighed and leaned into an upward position.

“Listen, kid, you seem to have magic. You know us, you know Storybrooke.”

“I can’t say”, the girl interrupted Emma. “I can’t change anything.”

Emma cocked her head and regarded the girl with a more open expression, almost gentle.

“I’ve just been to the past, and believe me, I was very much afraid of changing anything, but as it turned out, everything had already happened. I had done it before, which does sound very weird, but that doesn’t make it any less true.”

Kristen nervously tugged on her own fingers, scrutinizing the white carpet.

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

Regina really hoped Emma was right. Emma shrugged.

“And you can tell us your real name. You don’t exactly react to your fake one and I’d imagine that we will both recognize you by your magic anyway.”

That seemed less certain, Regina thought.

But then, they had already seen the girl’s face, looked at her energy and Emma was right. There was no way that she wouldn’t recognize her immediately.

So she nodded at the inquisitive gaze directed at her.

“Elsa,” the girl said, settling down into an armchair. “My name is Elsa.”

“Like in Frozen? Guys, that’s so awesome!”

“Henry!”

Regina chided him for his loud voice, gesturing upstairs.

“No worries, Mom, he’s knocked out cold. I barely got him to brush his teeth or change his clothes. He wanted a bedtime story, but as soon as I’d said ‘Once upon a time’ he was out.”

Elsa nodded wisely.

“All good stories begin that way.”

Henry beamed at her.

“As does yours.”

Elsa tilted her head, not missing a beat.

“Which one?”

“Henry, need I remind you that the Disney versions are usually slightly off?”

But Henry just crossed his arms defensively.

“Well, there was a poisoned apple.”

Regina raised an eyebrow.

“Well, Elsa has magic. That’s probably about it.”

Henry dismissively shook his head at her and smiled at Elsa.

“Do you have a sister? Anna? Does the name Kristen come from Kristoff? Do you wear gloves to contain your magic?”

“Henry, stop!”

At Regina’s insistence, Henry stopped his flow of words and looked at his mother.

“You’re about to make Elsa uncomfortable, don’t you see?”

But Elsa gave a shy smile and waved Regina off.

“It’s kind of okay. I wouldn't have expected anything different from him.”

Henry beamed and Emma rolled her eyes.

“I have a sister named Anna, I’m so not talking about her boyfriend, and no one’s supposed to know about the gloves.”

Henry made a fistpump in the air and Regina closed her eyes, happy that she taught him at least enough decency not to ask about Elsa’s parents.

“Are you a Queen?”

Or not. But Elsa’s smile didn’t falter; she just shook her head.

“About as much as you’re a King, I’d say. Though I’ll hold the title once I’m eighteen.”

“Oh, how old are you?”

“Not saying, that might change the future.”

“But you’re not eighteen yet?”

“Nope.”

For a moment Regina faltered. Rumple had imprisoned a child. Was he really going to be that far gone in the future?

“So, did you really build a snowman?”

Regina felt the corners of her mouth twitch. She looked to Emma who glared at Henry.

“Do not, under any circumstances, ask her to sing.”

She was relieved at Elsa’s look of amusement. Henry, however, simply snorted.

“God, mom. Of course no one sings. Have you ever heard anyone sing in Storybrooke?”

Emma made a pinched face and, despite herself, Regina laughed.

While Elsa and Henry frowned, Emma glared at Regina.

“We have a deal, no talking about my mom.”

“I do not sing,” Elsa muttered at the same time and Henry laughed, clearly about all of them together.  
  


* * *

  
Of course, it didn’t take Roland long to wake up again, screaming after Robin. Regina was there in a second, hoping he woke no one else.

It had been difficult enough to send Elsa and Henry to bed. Henry kept insisting he was old enough to know when he had to go to bed and Elsa smiling fondly at him hadn’t been any help.

Still, Elsa had ruffled his hair and gone to the guest room after Regina had sent her a meaningful look.

She hadn’t expected it to work.

Roland huddled into her embrace and promised to go to sleep again, if she stayed until then. So Regina held on to his little hand and listened to his breathing, glad that the rest of the corridor stayed silent.

Thinking about how easily Elsa had trusted not just Emma and Henry but _her_ , she might feel a little bad about putting a damper on Elsa’s magic. When Regina had touched her, handing over pajamas to sleep in, she had settled her magic over Elsa’s. The girl had flinched minutely but Regina wasn’t sure whether Elsa had noticed it.

As long as she was staying in Regina’s house, Regina had no choice but to protect her family.

Of course Elsa hadn’t gone to bed without making them promise to find a way tomorrow. Emma had reassured her again that she knew how to send her back, but the Savior had almost dropped dead on her feet, so, in absence of a vacant guest room, Regina had told her to stretch out on the couch.

In the time it had taken her to get the children upstairs, Emma had already started snoring lightly.

After Roland had finally fallen asleep (and not woken in the next couple of minutes,) Regina closed his door and padded downstairs to get herself a bottle of water. Or two. A small ache behind her temples reminded her that she had overextended herself, used too much magic without eating and drinking enough.

“Hey.”

Regina flinched at the soft greeting. Tired as she was, she had overlooked Emma, perched on one of her kitchen stools.

“You know, the living room is more comfortable.”

Emma smiled fondly.

“I remember. The couch is comfy.”

Regina had half a mind to throw the water at Emma’s pleased smile. She looked like she had been doing god only knew what on that couch instead of falling asleep after making sure that Henry was able to go to bed with all his nightmares after Neverland.

Then she had the guts to wave toward another chair, inviting Regina to her own kitchen.

“Come on, I just wanted to ask whether you’ve thought about what to do tomorrow?”

“About what?”

Emma’s confidence faltered for a moment until she shook her head.

“You’re right. There’s a lot on our plate right now. But I meant Elsa first. We need to get her back to her own time, like we promised. Rumple gave me a wand which can recreate every spell one has ever encountered.”

“Really?”

Nodding, Emma placed the invisible satchel on the table.

“You do know that this thing won’t fool Rumple, don’t you?”

Emma stopped in her movement, seeming honestly shocked, but then she shrugged sheepishly.

“One could hope?”

“Fool,” Regina breathed, put the bottle of water on the table, and moved to pick up the wand Emma offered to her but stopped just before she touched it, feeling dark magic curiously quiver.

“What did he say this was?”

“He called it the black wand, told me that it would get me home and…”

“And?” Regina pressed, sitting down slowly. Emma sighed and placed the wand on the table, avoiding Regina’s eyes while she muttered.

“And he made me swear a magic oath to return it to him once I’m finished with it.”

“What?”

Completely disregarding the dark magic, Regina grabbed Emma’s hand, immediately turning it to look at her forearm. There was the unmistakable shimmer of magic, the binding coming to sight as she concentrated on it.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

Emma defended herself guiltily.

“I believe you,” Regina simply answered, the absolution coming easily to her while she was concentrating on the oath. It looked like a simpler, but no less dangerous, version. Emma would have to uphold it; foregoing it might kill her.

But then, Emma knew that, Regina had told her about it.

When she looked up again, Emma’s lips had parted in surprise and Regina quickly let go of her hand.

“Once you’re finished or once you’re home?”

“Once I’m finished. He had bargained with Zelena. The first portal took us not as far back as she wanted...”

Regina felt uneasy as green eyes drifted off in thought.

Almost immediately, even without looking at her, Emma seemed to notice her anxiousness, focusing on her with a curious expression.

Trying not to think about the depth of that look, Regina regarded the wand instead. She let her hand hover over it, shocked at the viciousness of the dark energy.

“Don’t worry, we didn’t change anything. It’s like I told Elsa, I doubt it’s even possible. Rumple said that everything we did had already happened.”

“That makes sense,” Regina mumbled, examining the darkness. It seemed curious that Emma, with her light magic, had been able to wield it.

“Really? Because I thought it was hard to wrap my head around it,” Emma murmured and Regina smirked, ready to lecture her. She lifted her free hand and raised three fingers, folding them down with each point.

“You can’t bring back the dead, you can’t make someone love you, and, apparently, you can’t change the past.”

“Mh?”

“Rules of magic.”

“Yes, but…”

At Emma’s hesitation, Regina looked up but the other woman blushed.

“Never mind.”

“What?”

Shifting her attention from the dark object to Emma, Regina realized that Emma looked _guilty_. Which meant she thought she had somehow hurt her feelings, or she thought someone else had hurt Regina. Emma had a tendency to feel responsible for the actions of others...

Regina flinched when she understood.

The rules of magic. Whale had brought back the dead.

She shifted her attention to her water bottle, carefully unscrewing the lid, and kept her voice low.

“I wasn’t aware you knew about that.”

Emma started fiddling with that necklace of hers.

“David didn’t say much, but Henry…”

Concern washed over Regina. “What about Henry?”

“He had a dream about it…”

Regina lost the trembling grasp she had on the water bottle. Emma caught the bottle, put it safely back on the table, and took Regina’s hand in hers, squeezing in reassurance.

“He was afraid for you. His dream was about danger to you, not himself. He isn’t scarred by this.”

Relieved, Regina let out a breath she hadn’t noticed she was holding.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Emma wouldn’t lie to her, not about Henry, and, maybe, probably, not about anything else, so Regina believed her.

“Okay.”

To her relief, Emma didn’t dwell on the topic.

“So you can bring back the dead, though they won’t be the same. You can travel to the past, though you can’t change anything. What about the third?”

Keeping her mind far away from Daniel and that day in the stables, Regina tried to focus.

“I don’t know. I suppose they stop being themselves, only serving to your wishes. Or you might become mad yourself.”

Leaning back into her chair, Emma closed her eyes, still holding onto Regina’s hand, almost unconsciously.

“Well, if that’s not the embodiment of being careful what you wish for, I don’t know what is.”

Regina gave a tired smile, trying to ignore how much the contact to Emma reassured her, made her feel safe.

Uncomfortably clearing her throat, she moved her hand and hesitantly regarded the wand again.

“So you can make that work?”

“I have.”

Emma sounded thoughtful and Regina had no doubt that the Savior was scrutinizing her.

“Why are you asking?”

“I suppose if I tried to pick it up it might kill me instantly. With my own magic, I might add.”

“What?”

Shushing Emma’s squeak, Regina gave her a dark smile.

“It is only supposed to be wielded by one specific sorcerer with an incredible dark energy. I think the only reason you can even touch it, is because of your unique magic.”

“Unique?”

“You only have light magic, no hint of darkness. The wand can’t consume you.”

“Yikes.”

Emma picked the wand up with the tips of thumb and forefinger. She held it away from her body until she put it back into the pouch. Then she frowned.

“I told Rumple that I had light magic. He knew that it wouldn’t hurt me, right?”

“Most likely? No. He was probably just testing a theory.”

“You know, I’m starting to really hate that guy.”

Regina just shrugged. It wasn’t like they could do anything about him.

“I mean, he can’t just run around, trying to kill people who are already in prison, hand over black wands that can kill people just for fun, and, the way it looks, escalate to putting an innocent girl into an urn for god only knows how long.”

Regina closed her eyes and sighed, Emma’s righteousness was rolling off of her in waves.

“Seriously? You don’t even have a comment?”

“There’s really nothing we can do, Emma.”

“He was captured before.”

“Because he wanted it that way. Whatever we would come up with, he’d see it coming a mile away. You know that he sees the future.”

“That’s not how it’s supposed to go.”

Exasperated, Regina fixed her eyes on her.

“You can’t just suddenly decide that he killed enough people to deserve to be locked up, Emma. I have committed heinous crimes as well, and I’m free.”

“You’re not killing people _now_.”

Regina straightened up in her seat, brushing invisible lint from her robe, automatically trying to hide her hands in her robe, too late recalling that it didn't have pockets.

Emma’s eyes were following her intently, noticing her discomfort.

So Regina just held up her head.

“There’s nothing to do about Rumpelstiltskin, Emma. Even if you had proof, which you don’t.”

“I have a witness,” Emma protested, stubbornly setting her jaw. Regina resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

“You have a witch that has been running rampant in this town, accusing her previous puppet of murder. Who’s to say that Zelena didn’t kill herself, knowing she’d reappear in her time travel spell?”

Emma leaned calmly back, crossing her arms.

“Do you really think that?”

“Honestly?”

Regina sighed when Emma narrowed her eyes. She remembered Zelena’s reaction well. Zelena had scowled and snorted but she had wanted the chance Regina promised her, she had almost been ready to take her up on it.

That hadn’t been the reaction of a woman who was still planning to go through with her plan.

Besides, at that point, Zelena hadn’t had any magic left.

“No, I don’t really think that. But I doubt my opinion will count much when you try to convince the council.”

“The council?”

“For arresting Gold? You should have all the legal backup you could get before even considering what kind of magical backup you’d need for that.”

Slowly Emma’s antagonistic stance changed into a thoughtful frown.

“So, you’d allow him to keep running around, kill whoever he wants to kill, let him be accuser and judge and…”

“No,” Regina protested empathetically.

“I wouldn’t. But I really don’t see how we could change it.”

“You’re the Mayor, you can command the city council.”

“Kathryn and I are sharing the mayoral responsibilities.”

But Emma just waved her argument away with a swiping hand gesture.

“Whatever. Will you at least support me, if I find a way?”

“Find proof and we’ll talk.”

“Fine,” Emma gave her consent through gritted teeth.

“Fine,” Regina sighed. Just like with every compromise, neither of them were particularly happy with it, which meant they were doing fine.

Regina was about to elaborate on Rumple and the impossibility of outwitting him, when she was distracted by a ripple in her magical sensations. Curiously, Emma’s eyes glazed over at the same time.

Someone was wielding magic in Storybrooke, powerful magic.

Emma’s cell phone rang and they both flinched.

As soon as the sound registered with her, Emma jumped up and hastened to the living room.

“Yeah?”

Now Regina did roll her eyes. As the Sheriff of Storybrooke, Emma still hadn’t learned how to answer a call professionally. Unfortunately the next to questions sounded much too professional.

“When?”

“Who called it in?”

“No, Mulan! Don’t go in! I’ll be there in a sec. Don’t do anything without me!”

Emma hung up, waved her hand, and stood dressed in jeans, dark blouse, and red leather jacket in front of her.

Distracted by her sudden worry, Regina forgot to control her voice when she blurted out.

“The hospital?”

Emma just nodded.

“Can you get me there?”

“I’ll go instead.”

Emma put her hands on her hip.

“We don’t have time to argue, Regina. Just poof me over.”

“No way,” Regina shook her head, the worry turning into gut-wrenching fear.

“You’ve just come back. You said yourself that your magic is running low. Let me deal with Rumple.”

Emma just rolled her eyes.

“He won’t hurt either of us. As soon as he knows that he is being watched, he will stop trying to get through the barrier. Just poof me over.”

“No.”

“Fine, then let’s go together.”

“Someone has to stay with the children.”

Regina took the time to give Emma a regretful glance before she conjured up proper clothing and poofed herself to the hospital.

 

* * *

 

Fuming, Emma took out her phone again and called Mulan, letting her know to expect Regina. She had barely made her way back to the couch when she felt another source of magic appearing upstairs, in the guest room.

Within seconds she was barging into Elsa’s room, only to find a dark twinkle of magic disappearing, leaving a rancid smell.

Emma didn’t waste any time to conjure up a protective bubble around the entire floor. She felt goose bumps all over her skin, whether it was from the excess of energy she used or fear, she didn’t know.

For a moment she waited, holding her breath, but it stayed eerily silent.

Still on adrenaline, Emma leaned over Elsa. The girl was breathing deeply, obviously still fast asleep. She quickly checked on Henry and Roland, before she slid to the floor in front of Elsa’s room, exhausted.

She might have used more magic than she should have.

But then, the barrier looked pretty strong, shimmering silvery in the air. Nothing should be able to come in.

With shaking hands, Emma pulled her cell out of her pocket.

It took Regina an agonizing three rings to answer her phone.

“Emma?”

“Did the barrier hold?”

“How do you know about the barrier?”

“Regina!”

“Yes, it held. Zelena is fine, why are you calling? I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Because someone poofed into Elsa’s room and I tried to replicate the barrier you put around Zelena’s room. How safe is it?”

Instead of answering Regina appeared right in front of her, wincing.

“Very safe. Thank you for warning me about the nature of your barrier.”

She shivered, clearly trying to shrug Emma’s magic off of her.

“At least you left it open for me.”

Emma frowned at her.

“I didn’t.”

At least not consciously. She had tried to seal them in.

She allowed Regina to pull her up, her legs wobbling under her, while her ears were ringing.

Regina sighed and then there was an arm around her waist, guiding Emma into Roland’s guest room toward the huge bed. A flick of Regina’s hand made the boy’s little bed disappear. Emma felt it reappearing in Regina’s master bedroom and she flinched.

Immediately she felt Regina’s hand at her forehead, her cheek.

“You’ve grown sensitive to magic.”

Emma just groaned and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes.

“Did you see anyone?”

“No, but I’m pretty sure it was Gold. It stank like him.”

“Stank?”

“This rancid smell that his magic leaves. It kinda smells like garlic and sulfur and burnt wool, which is not a very good combination.”

Regina hummed before she left her room. Emma heard her walking to Henry’s room. She perfectly understood the need to check on their son.

After stopping at Elsa’s and her own bedroom, Regina came back. Emma felt the dip of the mattress when Regina sat down.

“What exactly did you do?”

“Honestly? I have no idea.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“I remembered what I felt when Gold gave me the chalk to pull up the barrier around his shop and I concentrated on what I felt around Zelena’s hospital room, except I wanted to keep everyone out.”

“You did.”

“Did what?”

“Keep them out.”

Suddenly there was a hand on Emma’s forehead.

“You have a fever.”

“How did I do that?”

“If only I knew…”

There was a moment of silence in which Emma concentrated on her breathing, tried to keep the buzzing of energy around her at a minimum. Her magic felt… weird. Flaky.

“Have I used too much?”

“You have too much magic, Emma. You are powerful beyond what I could imagine.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“That wasn’t a compliment.”

“T’was not?”

“You pushed whoever was in Elsa’s room out of it, without waking her up.”

“I did?”

“The energy on your barrier is pretty clear about that.”

Her head gave pangs of pain in sync with her heartbeat, so Emma just grunted.

“And you don’t even know how you did it?”

“I concentrated on protecting them, Regina. That’s all I did.”

“So you just will things into being?”

“With my emotions. You and Rumple told me to focus on my emotions. It works. I just wanted the threat gone.”

Emma thought she felt a hand pushing a strand of hair off of the side of her face, but that couldn’t be true.

Regina and her might be friends, but definitely not the touchy-feely kind of friends. They didn’t touch, ever.

Except for that hug.

And that handholding earlier.

Hm. Maybe they were changing.

Strangely, Regina’s voice was suddenly much gentler.

“You need to be more careful for yourself, Emma.”

Emma blinked, staring up at Regina.

“Is that concern?”

For a moment Regina just held her gaze, her dark eyes swimming with the unusual emotion, before she shook her head.

“Don’t be stupid.”

“Alright.”

Calmed, Emma closed her eyes again. After another stretch of silence, she felt Regina get up and walk to the door, hesitating on the threshold.

“I’m just glad you don’t consider me as a threat.”

Confused, Emma opened her eyes, only seeing Regina’s back, her head turned halfway back, but not directly looking at her.

“Never,” she whispered before closing her eyes and finally succumbing to sleep.

She wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw Regina’s shoulders tense in response.

 


	5. Chapter 4

The next morning started with Roland screaming in the hallway, waking everyone up before Regina ushered him downstairs. Emma groaned and rubbed her eyes.

Her skin tingled, feeling raw.

She shot up when Regina and Roland left the barrier.

With a groan, she let the protective measure fall, deciding that she had to ask Regina how she managed to keep it up, fast asleep.

Deciding to forego magic, Emma beat Henry to his bathroom, showered quickly and dressed in yesterday’s clothes. She checked the time and knocked on Henry’s door on her way down.

“Up! School!”

The answer was a grunt, echoed from the other room, signaling that Elsa was still asleep as well.

“You have to shower, Henry!”

“‘kay…”

Emma took that as an affirmative and trudged downstairs, smiling at Regina in greeting and moving toward the pot of coffee before she sat down at the kitchen table.

Regina was busy making pancakes for breakfast, sipping at her own mug every once in a while. Usually Emma would get grumpy looks from Regina, if she tried to start a conversation before the first mug of coffee was empty, but there was already an empty plate and glass.

“Roland?”

“Robin picked him up five minutes ago. Roland wanted his father. They’re trying to get him warmed up to Marian again.”

Emma hummed and sipped her coffee, not sure what to say.

It was a shitty situation she caused and though she was not sorry for bringing Marian back, she was sorry that they had to go through that. Considering Regina’s part in all of that, she didn’t dare ask how they were doing.

She felt Regina’s eyes on her anyway.

“How do you feel?”

“Me?”

Confused, Emma met her questioning gaze. Regina just rolled her eyes, not stopping in stirring the pancake batter.

“Magical exhaustion?”

“Oh,” Emma shrugged. “I’m not sure, honestly. Although, you could tell me how I managed to keep that barrier up all night.”

For awhile Regina held her gaze, unblinking, but Emma noticed her stirring motion twitch.

“You obviously felt very strongly.”

“Meaning I shouldn’t have been able to do that either.”

Regina tensed up and turned around, placing the bowl on the counter.

“No, you shouldn’t have.”

“Oh.”

Emma had hoped for a different answer.

“Then, how did I do it?”

“I have no idea.”

When Regina turned around again, she faced Emma with a strange determination in her features.

“But you can’t tell Rumple.”

Emma shrugged.

“I didn’t plan to. Still, he probably knows, since I’m pretty sure it was him that I kicked out yesterday.”

Regina’s gaze didn’t falter.

“That makes it all the more important not to let him know.”

Uncomfortable, Emma fidgeted on her chair.

“Maybe it is better if he knows that it was me, instead of thinking it was Elsa? I mean, he probably came for her, right? How did he even know about her.”

“He probably felt her arrival. He probably feels every kind of magic in town. Just like you felt him probing around Zelena’s barrier yesterday.”

Emma opened her mouth, ready to ask more about that, when Regina forcefully set the bowl down before she sat next to Emma, facing her.

“Now, tell me how you feel? How does your magic feel after that?”

There was something strange in Regina’s eyes, something like concern, almost pleading for her to be okay.

For a moment, Emma just stared at Regina. Then she held her hand out.

“Judge for yourself.”

She knew that Regina could sometimes feel her magic when they connected and she wasn’t really able to describe the raw feeling on her skin, the empty feeling around her skin, like something was missing. It had been the same after she had failed to do the time travel spell and landed Zelena and herself in Regina’s cells.

Strangely, Regina hesitated before she took Emma’s hand in her own.

Emma knew immediately why as she felt her magic reaching out for Regina’s, seeking something to replenish her lost energy. For the first time, Regina’s magic didn’t feel dark, but warm and enticing. Automatically Emma closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling, her lips parting in wonder.

Then Regina’s hand was gone.

Emma blinked, unsure about what had just happened.

Before she could ask anything, Regina got up, making loud noises while retrieving the pan from the cabinet.

Upstairs, Henry banged his door in response, and Emma chuckled.

Regina turned halfway to give her a small smile, the tension gone in a moment of shared understanding.

After watching Regina preparing the pancakes for a while longer, Emma rocked back on her chair, focusing on another problem.

“So… Elsa?”

Now that Rumple had definitely seen her, they needed to be careful about how to handle the situation. The guy clearly already had it out for her and Emma felt bad for the girl.

“If we send her back to her time, when Rumple imprisoned her, he will only do so again.”

Regina didn’t even flinch.

“So?”

“Don’t tell me you think she deserves that?”

“She very well believes so, Emma. We don’t know what magic she has. Even I couldn’t determine its nature. What if she is some time bomb? We simply don’t know enough to judge.”

“Are you serious?”

Emma looked upstairs. She had spent the night protecting a time bomb?

“Breathe, she isn’t dangerous right now. I put a temporary damper on her magic.”

“We slept right next to her. Henry slept right next to her.”

“And we were safe or I wouldn’t have offered her to stay here.”

“You offered her to stay, because otherwise Rumple might have her by now.”

Regina gave her a pointed stare and Emma sighed, pushing her hair back, deciding to change the topic. At the moment it was a moot point anyway. She was in no way ready to open a portal to anywhere.

“Good thing you put that protective barrier around Zelena.”

“Yeah, how did you know about that?”

Emma shrugged.

“I saw it. What did you think I returned to her room for?”

Regina smiled and looked down.

“You wanted to protect her.”

It was as much of a statement as it was a question, but Emma looked down, focusing on her coffee, not ready to talk about the time she had spent with Zelena. Fortunately, Regina seemed to accept her silence.

There was another sound upstairs. Regina put the first ladle of batter in the pan, glancing at Emma.

“Since you won’t be doing any magic today, I think we should have a look at Elsa’s magic, try to help her before we send her back to the exact same situation that got her imprisoned.”

Emma nodded in agreement, smiling hesitantly. It felt like the right thing to do.

 

* * *

 

Assessing Elsa’s magic turned out to be more complicated than Regina had thought, especially since the girl wasn’t talking. At the moment she was sulking in Regina’s study and Regina was cleaning the kitchen, trying to give her some room.

When Regina and Emma had told her that they wanted to help her before sending her back, the girl had argued and glowered and almost destroyed her plate as she had thrown it into the sink with an uncanny accuracy.

She had only calmed down and grudgingly thanked Regina for the pancakes when Emma had agreed that they’d only help Elsa, if she wanted it, and explained that her magic was still too depleted to send her back. Elsa had agreed to talk about her magic, but so far she’d only buried herself in Regina’s novels after swearing that she had already tried everything with her magic.

Fortunately Henry was at school or he might pick up her behavior. Regina didn’t need him acting like a teenager on top of everything else. She was happy that he was finally back to being her little Prince.

Instead of helping with the moody girl, Emma was in a meeting with the city council, presenting the facts for Rumple’s repeated deceit, trying to come up with a dark, magicless cell for him, while also speaking out for Zelena.

Regina doubted either would work. She had said as much but Emma had just rolled her eyes, insisting that Rumple had threatened their family.

Unsure whether Emma had been talking about Zelena or Rumple coming into Regina’s house, Regina had stayed silent.

At least Dr. Simius’s news had given them a little bit more time to come up with a solution for Zelena. While her wound wasn’t life threatening anymore, Dr. Simius needed her to stay at the hospital for at least another day.

Regina still didn’t know whether she should go and ask how Zelena was doing or curse her.

Her sister had tried to kill her.

Repeatedly.

And yet…

She had felt a sharp stab when they had seen Zelena dissolve on the video tape, the sting of losing another family member had been lessened by the fact that she had never truly known her, only seen her seeking to destroy Regina, but Regina had found herself thinking about her nonetheless.

She had offered Zelena a chance. Maybe she should think about what that entailed.

No one had ever thought the Evil Queen would be working with Snow White, and yet here they were, co-existing in their town, belonging to the same weird family.

Additionally, Emma had seemed set on protecting Zelena, even defending her.

Maybe, just maybe, they could give Zelena a chance. She didn’t even have her magic, which should make the townsfolk more trusting of her.

The prospect of getting to know Zelena seemed daunting but promising at the same time.

If she turned out to be even more abhorrent, Regina could continue hating her and let the Charmings deal with her.  
  


* * *

  
After Elsa had grunted at her and immersed herself in the books for another hour, Regina had had enough. She stalked into the room, hands on her hips.

“Okay, young lady, this is enough. Emma and I are offering to help you control your magic before we send you back, and you are going to take that offer and come to the garden with me.”

When the girl simply stared at her in disbelief, Regina fixed her gaze on her and snarled.

“Now!”

It was almost amusing to watch the girl scramble to her feet and out into the garden. In her haste she didn’t even search for the back door and Regina narrowed her eyes at the repeated familiarity the girl showed with her house. She had been here before.

Or will be, in the future.

Thinking like that was exhausting.

Outside, Elsa sat on the warm grass, crossing her legs and scowling.

“So, what now?”

It was a perfectly valid question. Regina knew that she was out of her depth. She took her confidence out of the fact that it wasn’t much different from Emma’s magic. So she smiled and sat down in front of her.

“Now, you give me your hand.”

Instead of complying, Elsa’s scowl deepened and she crossed her arms.

“If you want to determine my magic, you can just ask.”

“Yes, but judging by your inability to control your magic, how much do you know of it?”

She expected the girl to back down, lower her eyes. Instead Elsa held her head high.

“I have light magic; it’s unique.”

Regina gave a noncommittal hum and simply held out her hand. With a huff, Elsa complied and placed her hand in Regina’s. Almost immediately she could feel the light magic, swirling in the girl’s veins, ready to be released with more force than should be controllable.

So that much was true - it was light magic.

However it had a blue tint, contrary to the silver of Emma’s magic. It was also considerably colder. Emma’s magic was warm, love personified.

This cold energy didn’t make any sense.

Just like it didn’t make sense that the magic was responding to Regina’s observation, reaching out to her, ready to be lead in whatever direction Regina wanted it to go.

Shocked, Regina let go of Elsa’s hands. She tried to curl her trembling hands into fists and control her face, but judging by Elsa’s superior look, she didn’t succeed.

So Regina cleared her throat, trying to make sense of it.

“You are not a True Love’s child are you?”

“My parents loved each other very much but I don’t believe they ever broke stupid curses with their kisses like the Charmings.”

The derision toward Emma’s parents made Regina raise her eyebrows in amusement, happy to accept the distraction.

“You don’t like Snow and David?”

The girl shrugged.

“I like them well enough. I just hate how they act before they think and how the world’s black and white for them.”

“Yes, that can be dangerous,” Regina agreed carefully.

Elsa snorted. Regina swallowed, a dark suspicion rising.

“Did they… Snow and David? Did they agree to Rumple taking you?”

Elsa seemed agitated enough to start ranting, but she deflated before she even said a word.

“You know, technically I shouldn’t say anything about anyone from the future, because it could confuse you or change your views, but since you’re already suspecting the worst… No, they didn’t agree. But they also didn’t want me to be allowed outside.”

So the girl had most likely been incarcerated in her own rooms. She moved and talked like a royal, so Regina doubted that it would have been too inconvenient and yet… She knew exactly what it felt like.

“Well, let’s see how they react when you come back and are perfectly capable of controlling your magic.”

The only response was a tired smile. Elsa lifted her free hand and pointed at a dandelion to their side. Blue energy flew from her fingertips and the little flower froze.

“The only help I need would be to show me how to reverse that in a grand scheme. I had a teacher. I know how to control my powers, I just never was as strong as I am now and I lost the ability to turn it back, when it’s bigger than that…”

She gave the dandelion a sideways glance and the ice thawed.

“I gave that half a thought. But since I’ve grown stronger, things tend to stay frozen…”

Elsa directed her eyes defiantly at Regina. She was trembling inside but hiding it behind a strong facade.

“I don’t suppose you know how to fix _that_.”

Regina shrugged and smiled confidently.

“I suppose we’ll have to find out.”

But Elsa just shook her head and sighed.

 

* * *

 

When Emma came back to the house carrying lunch, she found Robin lurking at the door, a sleeping Roland in his arms.

“Robin?”

“Emma.”

His eyes darkened as he acknowledged her and she sighed. Somehow he had started to dislike her and she had no idea what she did. She shifted the take-out in her hands to get the key from her pocket.

“No one answering?”

“No.”

“Maybe they’re in the garden?”

“They?”

“Oh, yeah. Regina’s having a visitor…”

That one was hard to explain so she put the key in the door instead.

“What do you…?”

She gestured to Roland but Robin just gave her a cagey look. It didn’t seem fair, she might be responsible for the bulk of his problems since she had just brought his wife back, but, well, she had just brought his wife back.

“I’ll just look for her, okay?”

He grunted in agreement and she made her way through the kitchen to the back door, putting the take-out bags on the table in the patio.

Regina and Elsa were sitting on the ground, frozen specks of grass, lion’s-teeth, and daisies, all tinted in ice around them. One by one, Regina created an orange glow that thawed the plants.

Emma stared at them, open-mouthed.

“You can do it too, you just have to will it.”

Emma was too amazed at the flowing magic that she didn’t concentrate on the strain in Regina’s voice. Neither did she realize how angry Elsa sounded when she started gesturing.

“We’ve been over this. I can create ice, but only take back bits of it. It’s the only thing my magic allows me to do. I’m no sorceress, I just have a very specific kind of energy inside of me and it won’t do anything else!”

A burst of ice exploded from the girl, almost reaching Regina who quickly engulfed herself in an orange glow before Emma could reach them.

Regina scowled, waving her hands to get rid of the bluish magic.

“You should be careful with that; you can hurt someone.”

Elsa’s eyes grew wide as another explosion occurred. Emma was grateful to feel her magic instinctively covering her in warmth, even if she had to flinch at the energy her magic extricated from her body. As the ice burst around her, she jumped and gestured wildly at the two.

“Hey! Careful!”

“Emma!”

Regina whirled around, clearly concerned, but Emma just gave a sheepish wave, signaling that she was okay.

“Hi. I thought I’d bring lunch over. How’s the training going?”

Twin looks of disdain were directed at her and she lifted her hands in surrender.

“Hey, I didn’t do anything! I brought lunch!”

“Great, I’m hungry!”

Elsa got up and strode towards her with an air that deemed the lesson over and Regina followed, eyebrows knitted together as she glared at the girl’s back.

“Oh, and Robin is in the foyer. He has Roland with him.”

There was a flicker of surprise but then Regina’s mask slid in place, betraying no emotion.

“I’ll go see what he wants.”

By now, Emma was certain that she had missed something. She simply had no idea how to ask what it was.

“What’s with Robin?”

Elsa piped up, settling into a patio chair, while Emma collected cutlery and plates from the kitchen.

“Ehm. Robin Hood?”

“Duh. I know him. But, why’s he here? Why did Roland sleep here and not with him and Marian last night? They are his parents, after all.”

“Well, that’s complicated.”

“I don’t think it is.”

At the careless tone, Emma set the utensils down with force on the patio table, before she turned to face the girl.

“I gave my son up for adoption and Regina raised him. Would you say he should stop sleeping here because ‘I’m his mother, after all’?”

When Elsa flinched, Emma almost felt sorry.

“That was not what I meant. Sorry. But Regina hasn’t adopted Roland. He has grown up with Robin, has he not?”

The innocence in her eyes made Emma shake her head.

“No, Regina has not adopted Roland. But she has spent the last year with Robin and Roland has become a part of her life. They thought Marian was dead.”

Elsa narrowed her eyes, clearly absorbing some information she hadn’t known. Then she… flickered. There was no other word for it as her skin began to light up from her hands and she jumped up, eyes wide in fear.

“Hey,” Emma put a calming hand on the girl’s shoulder but Elsa brushed her off before the coldness that reached for Emma could take a hold of her. Stunned, Emma looked at the icicles around Elsa’s clothes. The only good thing was that the magic seemed contained to Elsa’s body.

“What is your magic?”

Elsa locked her eyes with Emma’s.

“Dangerous.”

Then the girl closed her eyes and started breathing deeply, in through the nose and out through the mouth. It was something Emma had observed Regina doing on their way to Neverland. She had suspected that it had helped Regina to ward off panic attacks.

So she watched Elsa closely, seeing the magic swirling in the air without even having to concentrate, desperately hoping that it would work.

It didn’t.

Instead the magic grew lighter and darker, shifting closer to Emma, closer to the house, no longer staying on Elsa.

Desperately, Emma reached out to place her hand on Elsa’s arm. She felt the cold creeping up, but concentrated on her own magic, on her warmth, and having no clue what she was doing, she let it flow free, engulfing Elsa’s magic and instinctively dampening the cold with her own warmth.

Elsa slid into her seat and closed her eyes.

Carefully, Emma sat down as well, feeling her hands shake from exhaustion. Going at this rate, she’d never be able to send the girl home. She watched her warily, waiting for it to start again. Until Elsa smiled at her, grateful.

“Thank you.”

Emma swallowed but grinned, trying to hide her nervousness by opening the take-out boxes.

“You’re welcome.”

 

* * *

 

Regina returned to two empty plates, a half-full plate of fries, one filled with salad, and laughter. Emma was telling Elsa about her morning. Apparently they were still finding confused people in the woods, trying to flip their arms as wings and such. It sounded like Little John had been sitting at Granny’s eating bananas.

Elsa erupted into high-pitched giggles.

“So, you’ve found the monkeys?”

Two pair of eyes turned to her, both guilty. Regina smirked.

“You are well aware that one shouldn’t mock people who are not quite themselves.”

She let her eyes rest on Emma who blushed immediately.

“You know, I’m curious about your method. How do you go about finding them? A dating website?”

Emma frowned at Regina, very darkly, and Regina was almost sorry about her quip until she noticed Elsa shaking with silent laughter, eyes shining with mirth.

After looking sharply at both of them, Emma apparently decided to ignore their smiles.

“We found almost all of them. Aurora is one of the only ones who doesn’t seem to feel any side-effects. Mulan is helping her look for Philip. They believe dead monkeys might have turned back instead of… you know.”

“They haven’t,” Regina sighed, remembering the flying beings Emma, David, and herself had dismantled as Zelena had ordered the monkeys to attack them.

“Mulan doesn’t want to take Aurora’s hope away.”

“How is the Queen?”

Emma made a face.

“She has informed us that intelligence might have been affected by the turn, essentially calling every other monkey an idiot, before she haughtily turned away. She’s also still pregnant, would you believe that? Zelena said that the change into a monkey should have held her actual body in a stasis. She suggested it for people who were afraid of growing old. I think she met one of the Lost Boys in the hospital.”

Despite herself, Regina had to chuckle. Emma rolled her eyes but Elsa giggled.

“So she’s been pregnant for how long? A year and half? She really won’t like elephant jokes on top of the monkey ones then, hm?”

Emma seemed to grin at Elsa despite herself and Regina simply shook her head at them as she sat down. She grabbed a fry.

“Thank god, they’re still warm.”

“Where’s Robin?”

“He went back to look for a flat with Marian. Roland’s asleep upstairs. He’s scared of his own mother…”

“Has no one told them about babysitters yet?”

At the animosity, both women gave Elsa sharp looks, but the girl shrugged, strangely unimpressed.

“No, really. You are the mayor, right?”

Regina nodded.

“So, you have enough work to do. I don’t even know how you took the morning off for me, but thank you, by the way. So, you have a sister in the hospital, a woman from the future to watch, a crazy Rumple to keep your eyes on, and Robin wants you to babysit?”

Emma gave Regina a look that plainly said ‘Well, if you put it that way...’ but Regina shook her head, unsure why she was even justifying herself in front of the girl.

“Roland is very confused and frightened right now. Robin can’t just get some stranger to babysit. That would be even worse. He knows and trusts me, so I’m the best option.”

Visibly unconcerned, Elsa grabbed another fry.

“Well, he knows and likes Henry, who is at a way better age to babysit, if you ask me.”

“Henry is in school.”

“Roland’s asleep.”

Their eyes locked, Regina stayed silent, shocked that she was being defeated by a _child_.

To their surprise, Emma broke the tense atmosphere with an amused laughter.

“Really, Regina. Beaten by a teenager…”

Regina scoffed and turned back to her food while Elsa did the same, wearing a smug smile as she picked up a fry.

“Well, I do admit, she does have a point. Can your deputies handle the afternoon alone, Sheriff?”

Emma’s eyes grew wide at the honorific. Regina rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Ehm, yeah, I guess. I mean, I’d have to call David in and… Yes, I can stay here.”

“Good. What has the council said about Zelena?”

“They want her imprisoned.”

“Have they proof that she killed anyone? Harmed anyone except me?”

“People are still missing, Regina. Most of the council are not very amused by it.”

“Have they convened?”

“They’ve set a meeting for the day after tomorrow. I pressed it to be later because Zelena should have a chance to defend herself.”

“Good thinking. Maybe I can push it back even later. After all we have a new Queen in town who’d want a seat.”

“I don’t think Aurora wants anything but calmly deliver the baby, preferably after finding her husband.”

Regina just laughed.

“Don’t you remember the time after the curse broke?”

Immediately Emma scowled. While David had tried to keep the hope up to return everyone to their rightful kingdom, all of the Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses, Lords and Ladies, had tried to take over the mayoral seat.

When Snow and Emma had gotten back, they had Kathryn to thank for keeping the peace. She had been the only one to not see any sense to divide the town into dozens of districts (each for a kingdom, if the royals had their wishes fulfilled).

Yes, they had taken Regina’s mayoral seat, but they had almost started several wars between themselves. That was until they realized that the only one with sworn knights ready to obey their oaths had been Kathryn.

Regina could only sigh when she thought about the rioting that would start, now that the imminent threat of Zelena was over.

Somehow she doubted that they would respect Snow putting her in the mayoral position again.

Judging by the pain on Emma’s face, her thoughts went in the same direction.

“Are you telling me that we have to hold elections?”

“Yes, and soon. I’d suggest you get some knights to join you for your patrols. There is more than one King unhappy with how the world order looks like.”

“This is just a town,” Emma complained and Regina snorted.

“I’ll try to put off the elections, but the sooner we have some accepted jurisdiction around here the better. I’ll put some money into the police funds to keep the peace, okay?”

“Thanks.”

When Regina got her attention back to the fries, almost all of them were gone. Elsa shrugged innocently before she gave them a pointed look.

“I see why you went back to the Enchanted Forest.”

Emma sighed and met Regina’s eyes in exasperation.

They needed to get rid of this smartass.  
  


* * *

  
The first thing Regina did after she left, was to drive to Rumple’s store.

She needed to know.

And while he wouldn’t admit anything outright, he might just be so proud of himself for almost killing Zelena that he might tell her.

Set on making an entrance, she threw the door wide open and strode into the shop like it was her throne room and Rumple her subject.

He liked that about her and she was angry enough to exploit that today.

Unfortunately, her only audience was Belle, who simply narrowed her eyes and shook her head at her antics.

“What can I do for you, Regina?”

Regina was relieved to noticed that Belle was still treating her with… tolerance?

At least she hoped it was tolerance and not simply thinly veiled hate.

“Rumple. Where is he?”

Belle flinched, but whether it was because of Regina’s biting tone or something else, Regina couldn’t tell. When she realized that she was unsettling Belle, she took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

“Belle, do you know where Rumple is?”

Belle avoided her eyes and shivered.

In all the time the woman had spent in Regina’s dungeons she had never looked so caged.

It set Regina immediately on edge and she had to force herself to keep her voice gentle as she slowly approached the other woman.

“What is going on, Belle?”

But Belle just shook her head.

“He’s in the basement at the house, practising spells, looking for something.”

Part of Regina wanted to leave at once, and yet something kept her back, made her smile at Belle.

“Is there anything you need, Belle? I can send anyone over; Emma, Ruby? You have friends, you know.”

Belle nodded quickly, still avoiding her eyes.

Accepting her silence, Regina turned to leave when Belle whispered.

“I made a choice.”

Confused, Regina turned back to her.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I shouldn’t… I made a choice.”

Finally, Belle met her eyes, the fear and pain clear in her gaze.

“And I’ve come to fear that I made the wrong one.”

There was only a moment of hesitation in which Regina scrutinized Belle, her heart stopping at the devastation she noticed.

He had taken the fight out of her.

Wordlessly, Regina held out her hand. Belle eyed the offer long enough for Regina’s hand to feel heavy, but she held Belle’s questioning gaze and nodded with certainty.

Just when Regina was about to give up, Belle rounded the counter and allowed Regina to guide her outside.

She moved toward Regina’s car and Regina opened the passenger door for her, shocked at the silent tears that were running down the woman’s face.

Taking her to Ruby was the obvious choice but Regina didn’t know what else to do. She made sure that Belle got into Granny’s and alerted Ruby to Belle’s presence before she set off again, hoping that Rumple wasn’t as far gone as she feared.

She knew that hope was in vain.

It was only a matter of how far he was gone as apparently it was enough to alienate Belle.

So Regina was apprehensive when she got out of her car and closed the distance to his house, taking the exterior staircase to his basement room.

When she was close enough to hear him mumble to himself, she felt a shiver run over her skin - fear of what was waiting for her.

It had been a very long time since she had been afraid of Rumple.

Was she afraid of what he could do? Yes, all the time.

But usually she knew him enough, trusted him even, not to use his powers to destruct entire realms.

Now, she was not so sure anymore.

His life’s purpose had been taken away from him and Zelena’s control over him was gone.

Rumple controlled himself and Regina assumed that it was quite dangerous if Belle was so shaken up about it.

Maybe Belle had been stupid enough to ask him about Zelena and had gotten an honest answer.

Shivering again, Regina pushed the door open.

He was sitting at a large desk, maps and books strewn around, mumbling under his breath, not even reacting to her arrival.

“Rumple.”

There was something wild in Rumple’s eyes when he looked up. He was completely gone, lost to whatever fantasy he was now in.

It was a terrifying sight.

“Ah, Regina.”

Even more terrifying was the sneering smile that his face twisted into. It took Regina a lot to keep from faltering.

She strode further into the room and concentrated on the mess on the table, assuming an annoyed posture.

“You know, I found something very interesting when I came to your shop.”

“Whatever would that be, dearie?”

“Your precious wife, ready to escape from your grasp. It seems you’ve taken up to this realm’s traditions, making marriages invalid. Maybe you can still get it annulled.”

His eyes glinted as he blinked once, but his smile widened.

“I’m not worried about that. We kept our traditions after all.”

Part of Regina was relieved when he flaunted his familiar superiority. The other, larger, part of her felt her own magic flare up in response to her fear.

His teeth shone as he smiled wildly in dark amusement.

“So, why are you here, Your Majesty? Afraid for your last blood relation or your little pet?”

“My pet?”

He turned away, clearly enjoying her confusion, busying himself with arranging some bottles, aiming and succeeding to display a disturbing casualness.

“The Savior, dearie. You think no one knows why you still keep her around, after so many, many opportunities. She’s still running around town, flaunting her power, her raw abilities. She’s a menace that was supposed to be eliminated after she played her part and still, you encourage her, protect her, teach her.”

His amusement, the dark threat in his words, called up sheer, unbridled fear. Regina felt her hands curl into fists, fists she then hid in the pockets of her blazer.

“Like usual, you presume to know too much, Rumple. I’m not here to discuss anyone’s magic but your own. Why did you kill Zelena? What did you want in my house yesterday?”

“Eliminating threats, Regina. It’s a shame that you even have to ask.”

She kept staring at him and concentrated on the sliver of satisfaction when he sighed and faltered.

“That girl you keep hidden away in your house is very dangerous. I did my research. There’s a reason I’ll capture her and I’m not ready to let her go.”

When he turned around there was the threat of truth as his eyes bore into hers.

“The destruction she is capable of, you wouldn’t believe me if I tried to explain. You’d be smarter to stay away. That girl causes her parents’ ultimate downfall.”

He was distorting the truth in a way that she’d understand in a decade, if ever. Normally she was used to ignoring it. This one though sounded like a personal threat she couldn’t understand yet.

“Enough with the riddles, Rumple. What are you up to?”

He turned, straightening to assume a regal posture. It had always been disconcerting how much self-confidence his powers gave him.

Today she couldn’t help but feel scared at his empty gaze, all cunning, all reasoning gone.

“Haven’t you learned yet, Regina? Love is weakness.”

Involuntarily, she stepped away from him, overwhelmed by the familiar cadence of the statement.

Regina swallowed and Rumple nodded, satisfied.

There was nothing more he would say.

This had been for nothing.

So Regina kept her head up and turned around to leave.

Just when she was crossing the threshold she heard him shout out toward her.

“Just, as a favor for our time spent together, Regina. Do be careful who you care for.”

Not until she was safely in her car did Regina allow herself to deflate. She rested her head on the wheel, her trembling hands braced on her legs.

It was worse than she had thought.

 


	6. Chapter 5

Sighing at Elsa ignoring her, Emma made herself a hot cocoa and sat across from the teenager in the living room. Henry had just gone to bed and fortunately Robin had picked up Roland not too long after the boy’s nap. Henry had offered to take Roland out to the park to play as his babysitter if he wanted (at Elsa’s sly suggestion) and for once Robin had smiled at Emma. She had reacted a second too late to grin back but he had nodded in understanding.

Emma wasn’t sure if it had been a silent apology or if she was missing even more than she’d thought.

With Regina gone to keep the town in order with Kathryn, Emma had been immensely relieved that Henry had been back before Roland had woken up. The five-year-old hadn’t been happy that Regina had been gone but he had been content to kick a ball around the grass with Henry.

Emma and Elsa had sat on the patio, trying and failing to work on Elsa’s magic. The girl still wasn’t particularly forthcoming and no matter how many details she recalled from her magic lessons, Emma had no idea what she was doing.

Maybe it said something about her lack of parenting skills that she had allowed Elsa to convince her to stop until Regina returned.

Maybe it had something to do with the exasperated look Elsa always gave her when Emma’s magic flickered out, still pretty much useless. Regina had said something about magic working differently in Storybrooke, about there being no natural energy to draw upon but Emma had only been half listening at the time, mesmerized by Regina’s passionate gestures, distracting her instead of supporting the point she was trying to make.

Elsa’s attitude made Emma think that it wouldn’t matter much if she had listened to Regina more.

By now she was starting to suspect that they had already tried (and failed) to help Elsa and the girl was only putting up with them, because they promised to send her home.

After all, she clearly knew them and aside from the fairies and some minor magic users, there weren’t many of them in Storybrooke.

How could they hope to succeed if their future selves wouldn’t be able to do it? After all, their future selves would remember Elsa, right?

Emma stopped that thought process when her head started to hurt.

Instead she dwelled on her parenting skills.

Emma wasn’t cut out to be the perfect soccer mom. She was herself and she knew that she had been more of a sister to Henry, his infallible hero, a cool aunt, more than anything, before they’d left.

Years of memories of raising him changed it a little.

She had years of parenting experience, of going from knowing nothing, to reading books and doing it the right way.

Well, doing it Regina’s way.

She was still figuring out her own way.

Hopefully, she was better at it with Henry than with Elsa right now.

It helped that she knew him so well now. She knew when he was lying, when he was trying to manipulate her into anything, and she knew when he was sulking, but she also knew what he looked like completely happy and content when his little world was perfect.

She’d do anything to protect his certainty in the world, his belief in happy endings.

It took a boy like Henry to convince the Evil Queen that she deserved her own happy ending.

At that thought, Emma sighed.

It had only needed an idiot like her to take that happiness away from Regina.

She really wanted Regina to be happy, hoped that Regina would find a way to be happy on her own, didn’t think about why Regina’s happiness mattered so much to her.

Instead, she focused on Henry once more.

They had made chili for dinner. Henry had actually enjoyed something Emma had remembered how to cook, asking her with a wide grin why they had never had chili before.

It seemed so easy for him to be happy with both his memories, both his moms.

He didn’t realize that most of the false memories were Regina’s, Emma just having taken her place. In his mind, they were both equally important and Emma was amazed by it.

Regina hadn’t just given her memories, she’d given her a legitimate place as a parent.

Emma only hoped she’d one day deserve it.

She was doing her best.

Sometimes Henry saw too much for his age, saw the doubt in her eyes and leaned into her side, smiling his sheepish smile and everything was fine again.

She hoped he was doing the same for Regina.

Their son had just went to bed when Regina came through the door. Elsa didn’t move from the spot on the living room couch with her nose in a book as Emma stood up to greet Regina.

“What happened?”

She asked as Regina slumped into a kitchen chair. Emma spooned some chili onto a plate and put it into the microwave. Regina slipped her shoes off, sighing as she leaned back.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Everyone’s going crazy?”

There was something unsettling in Regina’s eyes, just before she avoided her gaze.

“I suppose you need to be informed that they sacked me. Again.”

“What?”

Shocked Emma leaned back against the counter.

“The good news is that we convinced them to make Kathryn interim mayor until they hold a legitimate election.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

Regina settled back into the chair and closed her eyes.

“You should be happy that the first thing I did today was shift some money to the Sheriff's department.”

Emma shook her head, glad but disappointed.

“That’s something at least. Thank god.”

“No. Thank me.”

Emma grinned. The microwave beeped and she put the plate in front of Regina, who simply squinted at the dish, clearly not recognizing it in her own repertoire.

“Is it edible?”

“Your son liked it alright,” Emma proclaimed, not without a tinge of pride as she sat down, placing a bun on the table, observing as Regina carefully took a bite. She nodded appraisingly and started to eat. Apparently, it was alright for her too.

“Has there been any rioting?”

Of course, the first thing Regina would do after being sacked was ask about the town’s safety.

“David and Mulan took King George into a cell.”

“Good.”

Regina nodded slowly at the information. Emma had finally heard about all the nonsense that Albert Spencer had done after the first curse had been broken. She shook her head at the thought.

“You should think about talking to your deputy about serving the town and not obeying every oath she ever swore,” Regina remarked casually while tearing off a piece of bread.

“What?”

“If riots break out, Mulan will be off protecting her Queen instead of keeping the peace.”

Realizing that Regina was probably right, Emma placed her head on the table.

“I’m tired just thinking about this shit.”

To her surprise a hand was suddenly on her arm, squeezing softly.

“We managed it last time; we will this time, too.”

“Last time we made a trip to Neverland…”

Their eyes met and Emma swallowed. That place was something she never wanted to think about again. She still dreamed about the crying children in the jungle, even with another set of memories and a year of calm.

“We’re here now,” Regina reminded her.

“We’re here now,” Emma repeated and gave her a shaky smile. She thought she saw Regina’s eyes linger on her mouth, but that was just stupid.

Especially considering the torn look that shone through Regina’s features for a moment.

Of course, she must still be fighting to not hold Emma responsible for bringing Robin’s wife back to him.

Emma opened her mouth to apologize, but then Regina leaned away and took up her spoon without further commenting on it.

“So what happened here?”

“Not much. Elsa can’t thaw anything bigger than a frozen daisy, she gives out icy blasts when she’s angry, and she very slyly got our son his first job.”

When Regina raised her eyebrows, Emma chuckled.

“Babysitting. He spent half of the afternoon kicking a ball across the grass with Roland until Robin picked him up. Henry offered to take him to the park if they wanted. He gave Robin his phone number.”

“Oh.”

“That was okay, wasn’t it?”

“Sure.”

An awkward silence ensued while Regina finished her dinner. Emma began biting her lip while she anxiously waited for Regina to tell her off. Instead, Regina seemed to collect herself and started a different topic.

“We should consider looking into Elsa’s magic. Maybe some books can help us. Otherwise we need to send her back without our help.”

The fresh deflection grated on Emma’s nerves. She had told herself that she’d wait until Regina was ready to talk to her, but she couldn’t avoid the elephant in the room anymore.

“Okay, I get that you don’t want to talk about it, but if you’re angry with me, just say it. Just say ‘Emma, you’ve been very stupid. Bringing Marian back was the stupidest thing you’ve ever done and I won’t forgive you for it’.”

“Is that what you think? That I’m angry with you?”

Regina’s soft voice took Emma entirely by surprise. There was no way to confuse her even more. She stood up and moved to the entrance hall, not able to stand the strange atmosphere in the room.

“Okay, I won’t ask. I’ll just, you know, I’m just offering to listen. Or to be screamed at. But you don’t have to…”

An ugly feeling in her stomach made Emma queasy as she walked to the living room. Apparently she wasn’t ready to be screamed at.

She felt awful. She had felt awful the moment she had understood what they were about to do.

It didn’t help that it was supposed to happen. She hated _fate_. Fate was kind to no one and screwed over whoever trusted in it most.

It didn’t matter that the past was unchangeable, that it was _written_ , she still felt rotten for destroying the little bit of happiness Regina had.

In the living room waited a blonde menace.

“Trouble in paradise?”

Her sour mood turned even worse at the haughty expression on Elsa’s face.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed by now?”

“Shouldn’t you have sent me home by now?”

“I told you that we’re going to help you first; you should listen. Now go to bed.”

“I’m not a kid.”

“Then take your book upstairs to read with a nightlight.”

Elsa stood up, taking the blanket she had curled herself in, up in a majestic swirl.

“Fine!”

She stomped away, grabbing the book tightly.

“Fine!”

Grumbling Emma threw herself onto the vacated couch.

“Do you think she just gave us an outlook into our future?”

Emma’s eyes flew open. The smile on Regina’s face matched the amusement in the woman’s voice. Those mood changes were threatening to give Emma whiplash.

“Huh?”

“Henry, dear. He’s close to puberty as well.”

“Henry’s already grown-up. He’s kind and intelligent and understanding. He doesn’t need something as stupid as puberty.”

Regina chuckled. She had a glass of wine in her hand. She put it onto the table and pushed Emma’s feet to the side to make space for herself.

“You think neglecting his being a teenager will get us through his puberty?”

“Oh, yeah. Dismissing the truth has worked well for me in the past.”

Only when Regina looked at her sideways did Emma realize that she had unintentionally revealed more than she had intended to.

She avoided her dark eyes and made a move for the wine glass.

“May I?”

Regina gave an acquiescing wave and Emma took a sip, enjoying the heady taste of the dark wine. She handed the glass to Regina who simply accepted it back without complaining.

Apparently, Emma wasn’t the only one too lazy to get up for a second glass.

“You don’t have to feel guilty.”

But she did. With a groan, Emma closed her eyes.

“Don’t forgive me on account of all of this fate bullshit. I don’t buy it.”

“No…”

Suddenly there was a hand at her wrist. Emma opened her eyes to find that Regina had leaned in. She could smell her perfume, the sweet smell of her shampoo or conditioner, or…

“Listen to me?”

Emma nodded while she simultaneously tried to convince her heart to beat slower and persuade her brain to concentrate. Regina dropped her eyes then, probably gathering her thoughts, but she leaned in even closer, and Emma could make out the lacy black bra under the white blouse.

She swallowed. Regina sighed. Without lifting her eyes again, Regina hesitantly started to talk.

“Our relationship was over the moment we remembered the year in the Enchanted Forest.”

That was not…

“What?”

Regina reclined against the cushions, a contrite smile on her lips.

“We were friends in the Enchanted Forest, not lovers.”

Emma nodded, encouraging Regina to continue, because a relationship can develop from being friends to lovers, can’t it?

“We talked a lot about Marian and…”

When Regina still froze up, Emma felt a stab of sympathy.

“Daniel,” she supplied the name, knowing Regina couldn’t say it but needed it to be said. Strangely, Regina averted her eyes again, seeming almost _guilty_ when she nodded in agreement.

“Yes, well. Robin was easy to talk to and Roland took to me immediately, although I did everything I could to push the boy away.”

“Of course…”

Missing Henry must have been excruciatingly painful, even without a little cute Roland hanging on to her.

Regina took a deep breath.

“So, we talked a lot and it was clear that…”

Somehow Emma felt like she had been lost in the middle of the conversation. Had it been clear that Robin wasn’t over Marian? That Regina would never love someone as much as she did Daniel? Did that stop Robin? Because of course the first love was special, intense, exciting, and with a promise that doesn’t know anything about losing, about being without it.

But Emma hoped that people got a second chance, and maybe a third or a fifth or how many goddamn chances they’d need. She scowled at the white carpet underneath the coffee table.

“We remembered all of that when we got our memories back,” Regina said. Emma didn’t miss how Regina didn’t care to specify the ‘that’ that hadn’t changed after their time in Storybrooke.

“We pretended for a while that it wouldn’t matter but we broke up before you brought Marian back with you.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.”

Relieved, Emma breathed out and leaned back against the cushions, their shoulders touching gently.

“And I kept feeling guilty for somehow breaking you up.”

She wasn’t looking at Regina, so she didn’t notice the telling little twitch of Regina’s mouth.

After a while, she heard Regina sigh.

“You shouldn’t feel sorry for saving someone’s life, Emma.”

“I’m not. I just felt sorry for ruining something good for you.”

The words were out before Emma could stop herself. She waited, tense, for Regina’s rebuttal, to tell her that Emma shouldn’t spent her time worrying about her, that she could take care of herself.

It never came.

Instead, Regina kept silently sipping her wine and used magic to get a glass for Emma.

 

* * *

 

After awkwardly being woken by Henry and Elsa in the morning, Regina had sent Emma to go do her job, since she still had one.

Henry had shaken his head about both of them but gone to school without complaining.

Which left Elsa.

Who shook her head at Regina and glared and pouted and begged to be sent home, insisted that they couldn’t help her.

While Regina was up for the challenge she wasn’t as full of hope as Emma, nor as vehement in her believe in good as her son.

So, she had a difficult time giving Elsa hope, when she was still doubting whether they could actually help her at all.

It was why, after another dismissal and a frozen, now destroyed, coffee table, she asked whether she could leave to run a few errands.

Elsa just shrugged, asking her whether they even had a way to send her back.

So Regina didn’t just put a protective barrier around the house, but around her safe as well, protecting the wand.

Who knew what Elsa could do with that?

Regina’s first thought took her to the office. She stayed in her car for a while, looking at the town hall where she’d spent every working day for the last thirty years.

Instead of going in, she called Kathryn who assured her that everything was going fine before asking her two quick questions anyway. After deciding to make her calls a regular activity, Regina pulled her car out again, driving in a different direction.

Ruby walked toward her the moment she laid eyes on her and pulled her into a booth.

“Miss Lucas, would you be so kind as to unhand me?”

The woman’s expression turned sheepish but she shrugged it off.

“I hope you’ve come here to explain?”

“Explain?”

“You can’t just call, shove problematic new theories upon us, and disappear. What’s going on?”

Regina flexed her hands, preventing herself from sighing. This was the reason she had driven here. This was a problem she could tackle.

“Would you call Belle down? So that I can check if she wants to?”

“Hell, yes.”

Immediately, Ruby produced a phone from her pocket. After her quick call, it took Belle merely a minute to appear in the diner. She walked up slowly, anxiously, until she settled down close to Ruby.

“Is it true?”

Regina held out her hand.

“Tell me about the marriage ritual?”

She made it a gentle question, hoping to set Belle at ease. It worked partially; Belle’s shoulders relaxed, but the haunted look in her eyes stayed as she mechanically started recalling the details of her wedding ritual, cementing Regina’s apprehension.

When Belle finally put her right hand in Regina’s, displaying the familiar shiver of magic, Regina knew they had a problem.

“He put a binding spell on you. If he used it, he could make you in thrall to him.”

Belle’s breathing hitched but she nodded, fierce eyes begging Regina to continue, to lay out the facts, to give her something to research.

“I don’t know yet how to break it, but we will have to look for a way to take his powers away from him. After that, I should find a way to break his spell in his office.”

“So, up until then, he could call me back, anytime he wanted?”

Regina nodded.

“I don’t know how far he’s already gone, Belle. But the fact that he did that to you…”

“Shows enough.”

“How?”

Ruby bit out through gritted teeth, her shoulders trembling, hands curled into fists.

“What?

“How are you planning to take his powers away?”

Regina met her doubtful gaze straight on.

“He threatened my family. I will find a way.”

“He threatened Henry?”

Ruby breathed in disbelief, but Belle was already shaking her head, somehow reading Regina as if she had been doing it her entire life.

“He threatened Emma, didn’t he?”

And that was the crux of the matter.

Before she knew what she was doing, Regina felt herself nod.

 

* * *

 

“Hey,” Emma said softly, leaning against the doorframe.

“Hello,” Zelena greeted her back, slowly sitting up on the hospital bed, grimacing slightly.

“Does it still hurt?”

Zelena shrugged.

“I’ll live.”

At that, Emma cracked a smile.

“I heard.”

Kathryn had called the moment the decision had been made. Both Regina and Emma had been exempt from deciding Zelena’s fate. Regina on account of being her sister and Emma on account on who knew what. They told her it was because she raised a child with Zelena’s sister, but after Emma had insisted that she should at least be able to speak out for Zelena, they had let her. Apparently, Emma’s words had helped.

Curiously, Zelena focused on her.

“What? The verdict?”

Of course no one had told her. Internally shaking her head, Emma moved into the room and handed Zelena the tea she had brought. The hot earl grey was far better than what they had at the hospital, or so Regina had told her.

“Thought you might like some tea that doesn’t taste like garbage.”

Zelena hummed in approval and took the offered cup.

“So, I haven’t been sentenced to death?”

Emma shrugged and pulled a chair close.

“Interestingly enough, they couldn’t find any proof that you killed anyone.”

“Not even Baelfire?”

Flinching, Emma closed her eyes briefly. That had taken some internal justifying.

She wouldn’t tell Zelena that it was mostly due to her that the witch wasn’t being blamed for his death.

After all, Emma had been the one to let him go when others would argue that she should have found a way to keep him.

Just like with Emma, it had been, ultimately, Neal’s decision. He had left her to her fate, not knowing that he was leaving a son behind as well. With his father, Neal had made the other decision, trying to save him no matter the cost.

“Neal decided his own fate when he tried to revive his father.”

“I led him on that path.”

“The way Belle tells it, it was his own decision. She told him not to and you led both of them that way.”

“True enough. What of Walsh, Aurora, the rats in the woods I turned into monkeys?”

“Are you trying to annoy me?”

Zelena frowned and looked out of the window. Emma sighed.

“In case you actually wanted to know, no one has found Walsh yet. There are still people missing. Aurora is healthy, just like you said, although she’s the woman with the longest pregnancy ever. We think that the rest of the missing people are dead, most likely by our own hands when we tried to defend ourselves against the monkeys.”

It hurt to have Zelena nod in agreement. Emma herself had shot at a monkey, sliced a sword through another. She didn’t know how to rectify killing actual people who weren’t in control of themselves.

“Who was Walsh?”, she asked quietly, not expecting an answer, but Zelena chuckled.

“Would you believe it if I told you he was a wizard?”

“What?”

“I had him in my control all the time, even in New York. But the only clear instruction I gave him for New York was to keep you there.”

Emma breathed out slowly and decided to put off the Walsh discussion for later; she had spent the days after his deceit trying to shove him in the same drawer as Neal. It wouldn’t fit right.

“So, he didn’t have a choice?”

Zelena shrugged.

“It was doing his job or getting killed. His character, though, was his glorious self.”

Swallowing, Emma looked away, trying to come to terms with that.

It was reassuring to know that only the happy-go-lucky mom version of her had fallen for him. But there was still a part of her that felt something for him, a fondness for his antics, pity that he was basically a prisoner. Part of her missed their easy conversations, but then again it was hard to disentangle that from the part that longed for the easiness, the calm that was New York.

“Would you set him free if we find him?”

“I’m not really having him in my thrall now, am I?”

“Right”, Emma nodded, feeling stupid. She thought she might be happier to know that he was somewhere free, making his own decisions.

Contrary to thinking that she might have killed him with her sword.

She shuddered at that thought.

Zelena rubbed the empty place under her neck.

“I knew what it would take to get the necklace off.”

Relieved, Emma focused on the easier topic.

“I thought you’d know.”

“I never thought Regina could do it.”

Emma nodded, remembering the light magic shooting out of Regina’s hands, remembering Henry telling them that he believed in his mother, remembering the look Regina gave her after she reminded her that True Love’s kiss was light magic, the disbelief before, the hesitant acceptance of their words, and the radiant glow afterwards.

“Neither did she.”

Zelena snorted.

“And now she’s one of you. A good guy.”

“I don’t believe in that concept of black and white,” Emma protested, finding a curious note in Zelena’s eyes.

“You really don’t, do you?”

“Nope.”

“Alright then, what are you going to do with me? Imprison me for life? Exchange my memories for a cursed identity?”

Emma shuddered and shook her head. Not that the council hadn’t discussed that, but it simply was inhumane.

“No, you get a chance.”

“A chance?”

“To redeem yourself. You are placed under house arrest. We’ll have you work with… Do you know what a psychologist is?”

“I’m not going to talk to Snow White’s cricket.”

“Then don’t. We have three doctors with psychology training here.”

“You do?”

“Yep. You get your pick. If you like none of them, we’ll try to find another solution, but believe me when I tell you that I’ll know if you don’t try.”

Leaning forward, Zelena scowled.

“Is that so?”

Ignoring the antagonism, Emma nodded and gave Zelena an annoyingly bright smile.

“Yep. Also, I’m the Sheriff. I’ll have primary jurisdiction over your conditions. So, what do you want your apartment to look like?”

Emma pulled out pen and paper from the pocket of her jeans, holding up the little police notebook.

“So, let’s make a shopping list?”

She only looked up when Zelena stayed silent. There was a strange look on Zelena’s face.

“What?”

“Why? Why are you doing this for me? I came here to destroy the town, to kill my sister, I used the Dark One to create misery…”

“And you had the chance to take yourself as a baby, travel a bit forward and exchange yourself with Regina. You had multiple chances to murder her. We met Regina, she was unprotected, young, more or less helpless, offering to trade her place to anyone stupid enough to be willing to take it. And you didn’t do anything. You flinched but when we were captured in Regina’s dungeon you didn’t even talk about killing her anymore. You just wanted to get back _here_. Why?”

The moment Emma asked, she knew that she wouldn’t get an answer. Zelena avoided her gaze, preferring to look at the window, although there was nothing to see but clouds. Taking the notebook back up, Emma sighed. She opened her mouth to ask about the shopping list when Zelena started talking, words so soft, Emma almost missed the beginning.

“I went, unsure whether I would succeed. I saw her, walking through the woods, dressed in rags, trying not to attract attention. She was talking to me, explaining why she couldn’t keep me…”

Anxiously, Emma held her breath. Judging by what she knew of Cora, this couldn’t be good.

“She said, she was trying to give herself _her_ best chance.”

Before she knew what she was doing Emma had leaned forward and squeezed Zelena’s upper arm once. To her surprise, Zelena allowed it.

“At least she was honest.”

Zelena flinched but Emma pressed on.

“My parents still say they gave me up to give me my best chance.”

“They probably feel that way.”

For a moment, Emma simply stared. Regina defending fate was weird enough, but Zelena defending her parents was just bizarre.

“They wanted me to be their Savior.”

“And now you’re reunited, so it worked out, didn’t it?”

It didn’t. She still woke up, sweating from nightmares, feeling abandoned. Mary Margaret had known about it, but Snow didn’t want to hear about it.

However, that wasn’t something Zelena needed to know.

“I don’t care about the apartment I’ll get. Just…”

Anticipating a request she wasn’t sure she could fulfill, Emma schooled her features into a kind grimace.

“Yes?”

“Could you talk to Regina? She hasn’t come by yet and maybe…”

“She was here yesterday.”

The surprise on Zelena’s face was sincere.

“No, she wasn’t.”

“Yes, I was.”

Both, Emma and Zelena flinched at the sudden voice from the threshold. Regina was standing there, as rigid as Emma had ever seen her.

For a moment, Zelena seemed openly shocked before she concentrated on defiance.

“No, you weren’t.”

“You were asleep,” Regina explained. She strode through the room, her high-heels unnaturally loud on the linoleum floor. She put a travel bag on the end of Zelena’s bed.

“I brought you some clothes. I’d imagine you wouldn’t want to wear that hospital dress forever.”

For a long moment, no one said a word. Then Zelena nodded slightly.

“Thank you.”

The shock was evident in her tone. Emma got up to leave the two of them alone, but Regina nodded briskly and turned again.

At the door, she hesitated before she spoke over her shoulder.

“I’m glad you didn’t die.”

After that Emma placed the notebook on the desk and left Zelena to contemplate that on her own.

She had to talk to Dr Simius about his counselling qualifications with deeply disturbed witches. He was good with the Lost Boys, and maybe he’d be a good match for Zelena as well.

Maybe she should find out who he was first.  
  


* * *

  
This time it was Emma who arrived late at the house. With Elsa still occupying a guest room, they had agreed on Emma staying in the mansion. Regina had said something about extra protection for the girl but it had been something in Regina’s eyes that had made Emma agree before she had considered what it would entail - something that had asked Emma to stay, whether to help or anything else, Emma did not know; she didn’t need to know to agree.

Walking up to the house, Emma rolled her neck, trying to work out a kink. Tackling two full grown former knights had not been kind to her body.

Kathryn’s verdict hadn’t been exactly popular by the council; someone had tried to send his knights into the hospital to kill Zelena. Never mind that said knights were working as a butcher and baker in Storybrooke, and had evidently worked in the kitchen in the lost year. Their huge bellies had been more frightening than their quivering swords.

They were spending the night in prison but Emma knew they were going to be free by sunrise. The council didn’t quite get the statutory offence of ‘attempted murder’. Anything that ended up short of an actual body wasn’t worth spending a prison cell on, especially not if they were talking about their own knights.

Keeping King George behind bars had been difficult enough.

Just after Emma had dealt with that, there had been a call that some of the Lost Boys were attempting to cross the town line.

Having parents was nice as long as they gave them a home, food, and hugs, but the boys didn’t do very well with rules.

Emma brought them home and made a new date to assemble all the families for another session. Dr Simius had been a better help than some psychologists Emma knew from her time in the system.

All the while, her parents had been calling non-stop, badgering her to come by. She was glad they remembered her, but less happy that they only took an interest because they didn’t want her to stay at Regina’s.

She was looking for a flat of her own but with all that was going on, she would have to first find a place for Zelena.

So when she walked inside at nine o’clock, hoping against hope that Henry was still up, so she could at least see him once today, she stopped in her tracks when she heard glass breaking in the kitchen.

“I can’t do it! I can’t! And you won’t be able to teach me! Just send me HOME! I WANT TO GO HOME!”

Apparently, Regina’s day of research hadn’t provided much help for Elsa.

For a moment, Emma was tempted to slowly steal her way back out of the house, but then she reminded herself that they had decided to help Elsa, both of them, and Regina had asked her to help.

“I’m sorry, dear, but… Stop this! Not this glass, it’s…”

“Expensive?”

Predictably, there was a second crash.

“And don't call me 'dear'!”

“Ma?”

Henry was standing on the stairs, eyes wide, looking very small despite his pyjamas leaving his ankles and wrists free. Emma smiled up reassuringly.

“Promise me, you’ll stay our smart, level-headed boy and never go through puberty?”

He chuckled.

“It’s just Elsa?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, not entirely convinced that his calm was warranted. _Just_ Elsa.

Henry nodded, yawned, and padded back upstairs.

What exactly had Elsa been telling him?

Emma braced herself before she went into the kitchen. Broken glass was everywhere. Regina, hair mussed and cheeks red, was fuming, while Elsa released flow after flow of ice out of her fingers, turning the ground into a mixture of sharp glass and jagged ice. Her blonde hair was standing out in a wild circle, blue eyes blazing with icy fire.

“Elsa?”

The girl whirled around.

“You! You aren’t helping either! Everything is more important! The poor Lost Boys can’t deal with suddenly having parents that care! Zelena is so sad because her mother never wanted her! Boo-hoo! She has a sister who loves her! But where’s…”

Elsa’s voice broke, tears were streaming over her cheeks, impressively turning into drops of ice after they dropped from her face, shattering on the ground. She was shivering and not from the cold.

Without thinking about it Emma strode forward, ignoring Regina’s warning glare and the sharp objects on the ground and gathered Elsa up in her arms. Emma was not a hugger, but she recognized the sheer need to be held anytime. The girl sagged against her, sobbing, releasing new blasts of ice that Emma barely contained with her magic.

She was relieved to notice that her magic finally felt normal again, completely restored.

Emma met Regina’s eyes over the girl’s head. There was a sadness in Regina’s eyes that mirrored Elsa’s so exactly - it hurt; only, Regina knew how to better contain it. Instinctively, Emma held out one hand to pull Regina closer. After a short hesitation, Regina allowed it to happen.

They both held the girl as she sobbed against Emma’s shoulder. Regina had one hand around the girl’s shoulders and one awkwardly placed on Emma’s hip. After a second of hesitation, Emma placed her hand on Regina’s shoulder and moved up to Regina’s neck, her thumb drawing lazy circles over her cheek, gathering up a lonely tear that had escaped the tight control.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Emma whispered to both of them, holding Regina’s gaze before she looked at Elsa.

“It’s gonna be fine. We will get you back to your sister and we will make sure that you can stay with her, okay?”

Elsa’s sobs grew only worse. Regina flinched but Emma pulled both of them even closer, letting her forehead rest against Regina’s in comfort while stroking Elsa’s back in reassurance.

“How?”

Emma took a deep breath to tell the girl that she had no idea, ready to promise to find a way - any way.

Only… it felt wrong. Somewhere, deep down, she knew what to do. She knew. She just had to get to that knowledge, figure it out.

Rumple had told her that magic was all about emotions. Regina had taught her to use her fear, her anger but the best results hadn’t been when she had been afraid for herself but for others. She evoked protective barriers by thinking about guarding the people she loved, she barely saved herself on that stupid bridge because her magic wasn’t for herself.

It was, stupidly, about love.

The love she felt when she thought about Henry, the kind of confusing protectiveness she felt for Regina.

Emma allowed her feelings to wash through her, both surprised and not at all by how intense they were.

“Emma?”

Elsa’s voice was unbelievably small, inquisitive, frightened. It hurt Emma to imagine how Elsa had come to be so frightened.

She took a step back, already missing the feeling of Regina’s forehead pressed against hers, their hands interlaced. Instead of pushing it away, she reveled in the feeling and smiled at Elsa while she took her hand.

“You have light magic, right?”

“Yes, but it’s not like yours. We’ve talked about that and…”

Emma shook her head, disregarding how exhausted Elsa sounded. They hadn’t talked about their magic _that_ much.

“You’re right. It’s not like mine. But it’s similar. What do you feel when you conjure your magic?”

“Everything,” Elsa said, her hand trembling in Emma’s. It wasn’t exactly what Emma had expected, but of course - she was a teenager. She did feel everything and more than that.

“Would you try something? For me?”

She smiled at Elsa, getting a tiny grin with rolling eyes in return.

“Yeah…”

“Okay, good. Can you tell me something about your sister?”

“But…”

“Not her name, nothing to give me knowledge about the future, but… What is she like? What’s her favorite thing to do?”

“Riding.”

“Riding?”

“Yes,” Elsa nodded, she smiled slightly and the trembling slowly ceased as she started to talk.

“She loves to ride and to dance and to sing. She’s always in motion. She has a lot of energy. I used to conjure ice stairs for her and she would climb them faster than I could make them. When she got to the top, she’d just jump, unafraid, trusting me to prepare soft snow for her to land upon.”

While she talked, Elsa’s face lit up in joy.

“She’s entirely fearless but completely naive. Her utter trust in people makes her stupid sometimes, but that is when I look out for her.”

Emma nodded at her to keep talking while she held on to her own feelings of love, feeling the warmth of her magic swirl within her. She pushed some of her magic toward Elsa, somehow knowing that they were similar enough to do this without warning, that Elsa’s magic was powerful enough to accept Emma’s. Elsa’s magic was swirling freely, slowly taking up the direction Emma was trying to steer it into.

“And she is so full of love. It’s frightening sometimes how much of her love she just gives freely, like it’s nothing. Like nothing could ever hurt her. And even though she’s younger than me, she’s so protective of me. She tells everyone how good I am, although I never deserve her praise. She’s so ready to forgive any and every mistake. It’s maddening sometimes and also endearing.”

While she talked a little sliver of warmth came from her fingers.

Elsa lifted her hands, disentangling the one from Emma’s, watching the warmth spread.

“You seem to really love your sister”, Emma observed and Elsa nodded.

“She’s my little hero.”

The ice on the floor gave way to the white tiles, melting and disappearing into the air, so that slowly, ever so slowly, only the glass remained. Elsa stared in wonder.

“I did it.”

“You did,” Emma confirmed. She met Regina’s gaze with a wide smile, just before the girl pulled both of them into an exuberant hug.

“I did it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Emma beamed at the open display of joy and returned the embrace until the girl extricated herself, turning to the hall.

“Henry! I did it!”

With that she flew out of the room. They heard her running up the stairs and Emma chuckled.

“She’s a whirlwind, hm?”

Regina shook her head, smiled, briefly put a hand on her eyes, only to move it over her hair, messing it up in the process. She was beautiful and adorable and, still tingling with the warm magic, Emma moved forward to pull her into another hug before this perfect moment was ruined.

“How?”

The question was breathed against her neck and Emma smiled into Regina’s hair, breathing in the soft smell.

“Love,” she answered. Regina staggered back, but Emma didn’t let go. She kept her hands on Regina’s shoulders and gave her an encouraging smile.

Regina avoided her eyes, looking everywhere but at Emma and suddenly it made sense. Suddenly everything made a lot more sense.

Realisation washed over her, the smile disappearing, leaving shock and nervousness and disbelief.

“But…”, Emma sputtered, feeling dreadful when Regina pulled back. She didn’t want to lose this closeness, she didn’t want to lose her, she wanted…

So she followed, placing her hand on the back of Regina’s head, her thumb on her cheek, just like before, reveling in the fact that Regina had allowed it in the first place.

Regina closed her eyes, slightly swaying toward her before she seemed to catch herself, tensing up.

“Don’t run,” Emma whispered against Regina’s cheek, shivering from the whirling emotions inside of her but certain that for once, running was off the table. She didn’t want to run, not from this, this that felt so much bigger than she dared think about.

Emma watched Regina take a shuddering breath and gently moved her thumb over Regina’s cheek. They stood together for a long moment, until the trembling stopped, but with no less control of their emotions.

“Hey,” Emma breathed, feeling stupid but trying to get Regina to look at her. When she did Emma was overwhelmed by the emotions she could read in Regina’s eyes.

They both leaned in, hesitant, careful, afraid they were reading the signs wrong, afraid they didn’t…

All thoughts were thrown out the window when soft lips met hesitantly, moving slowly against each other, shy, until it registered that it was real, not another dream but actually happening.

Emma leaned in even more, holding Regina close with her hands on her back while Regina’s hand moved through her curls. Emma was done resisting the pull toward Regina and, for once, she just let go, losing herself in the feeling of Regina’s lips on hers, of Regina’s body pressing up against her, about discovering how Regina’s body felt under her hands, carefully surrendering to the moment.

Regina pulled back first, breathing faster than usual, Emma followed the motion for another quick kiss, letting her forehead rest against Regina’s after that, her body tensing up.

Her thoughts were jumbled, torn, conflicted. She felt light-headed, fear following immediately, fear that this wasn’t real, that it was just some cruel joke of fate…

“Don’t run,” Regina echoed Emma’s previous plea, voice trembling, and Emma felt herself melting against her again, the fear slowly abating.

“This is huge, Regina. I don’t...”

Emma took a deep breath.

“I don’t want to screw this up. Screw us up.”

“Who says I won’t?”

Emma chuckled.

“Good point.”

Regina glared at her and Emma rolled her eyes. She met Regina’s eyes and just _knew_. They’ve been through too much to screw this up. They’d always be Henry’s parents; whatever else happened they should be able to figure it out.

“So?”

They flinched away from each other and turned to the beaming girl in the doorway. Her grin was impossibly wide, happy, and, somehow, extremely satisfied.

“Can I go home now or do you want to write a certificate of awesomeness or something like that for me to give to Rumple?”

Emma gave a breathy laugh, shaking her head at the changed girl in front of them. Gone was the broodiness, replaced by hope and elation. So she nodded, trusting that Elsa knew how to take care of herself now.

“You can go home now, if you want.”

Regina hesitated.

“Do you want to say goodbye to Henry?”

“Already did.”

Emma chuckled and gave Regina a reassuring nod when she saw the doubt in her dark eyes. Maybe Regina didn’t really believe that Emma could open a portal just like that, or maybe she didn’t trust Elsa’s abilities yet. She hadn’t experienced the magic Emma had just directed.

“Okay then. Do you want to go now or tomorrow? We can try it again first?”

Somehow Emma was sorry to let the girl go; she had gotten used to having her around during her brief stay. Still, they slowly moved through the hall in the direction of Regina’s office where the wand was safely hidden in Regina’s safe.

Elsa only gave them a wide smile. She pointed in the direction of the piano, entrapping it in solid ice. Regina gasped loudly, but Emma squeezed her hand, hoping that Elsa knew what she was doing. The girl turned to them with a confident smile on her face, waved her hand and the ice simply disappeared.

Regina stared, open-mouthed.

“I get it now. You explained it so many times, but my magic wasn’t ready yet, I guess. The ice comes when I let go of my fear but love melts it. I don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

Emma pulled Regina along while Elsa walked ahead, still grinning.

Elsa hugged both of them tightly, thanking them again and again. She was almost bouncing in excitement to get back.

Before she enacted the time travel spell again, Emma looked to Regina for reassurance.

“Can I…?”

Regina nodded, immediately knowing what Emma wanted.

It felt familiar to tug on Regina’s magic, to use some of her energy for her spell. It was also a lot different than before. The other times Regina had directed Emma’s magic; now it was the other way around.

Emma felt a whirl of emotions coming from Regina - fear, doubt, happiness. She wondered whether Regina had felt the same whenever she had guided Emma’s magic somewhere.

Elsa waved at them and walked confidently into the orange glow.

Emma leaned against the wall behind her, carefully closing the portal.

“One down, two to go?”

“Hm?”

She looked at Regina, eyes red-rimmed, hair still mussed, confusion and awe on her face. Emma felt the need to kiss her again. Instead, she smiled and explained.

“We still have to deal with Rumple and find some living arrangement for Zelena.”

Regina crinkled her nose, dissatisfied, and shook her head slightly, hesitantly swaying toward Emma.

“Not today,” Emma reassured her with a smile.

Shaking her head again, Regina met Emma’s gaze.

“It was that easy for you to open a time portal, wasn’t it?”

Emma shrugged.

“That was the wand, not me. I couldn’t replicate that on my own.”

“No one else could replicate that, even with that wand.”

Emma just wiggled her eyebrows.

“Scared?”

Regina rolled her eyes.

“Terribly."

“Apropos scared, we should probably go upstairs to tell Henry that everything’s fine. He was pretty worried.”

“Henry?”

That made Regina straighten up and move toward the stairs.

“I’ll go talk to him.”

“Okay, I’ll clean up in the kitchen.”

Regina stopped halfway to the stairs.

“Emma?”

Emma turned toward her.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Regina smiled at her before she turned and climbed the stairs. For a moment, Emma lost her breath and just stared.

It was frightening how good this understanding between them felt, so full of potential for everything.

 


	7. Chapter 6

When Emma got upstairs, she stopped to look through the half-open door of Henry’s room. He was fast asleep.

Then she hesitated.

She could go to Regina’s room and wish her a good night. It wasn’t like she had never done this before, but…

Would it mean something different now?

She didn’t want to invite herself into Regina’s bedroom. The room where Regina slept and changed and…

She needed to get her head out of the gutter.

In the end, she chickened out and moved to the guest room.

She found Regina sitting on the bed. Emma’s lips parted in surprise.

“Hey.”

When she looked up, Regina gave her a tight smile, she was fidgeting with her fingers.

“Should we… talk?”

Suddenly shy, Emma looked at the ground for a second. Talking. Right.

When she looked up again, she gave Regina a small smile and moved to sit down next to her, both leaning against the wall, silent for a while.

“You know, I’m not good with talking.”

“You were alright with Elsa.”

“I don’t really know Elsa.”

“True.”

“I think she told Henry who she really is, how she knows us.”

“Why would she do that?”

“She knew him, she trusted him. Henry would believe whatever she told him, no matter how abstruse.”

Regina chuckled lightly.

“True.”

“Plus, he might have just badgered her about the movie ‘Frozen’ until she told him the truth.”

“It must be terrible.”

“What?”

“Losing your parents like that.”

“Hey, we don’t know if that’s true.”

“You can’t be serious, Emma? Didn’t you see…?”

“Yeah,” Emma interrupted Regina before she could continue. She had seen it, but she had chosen not to think about that, not to acknowledge that, albeit abated, familiar dark and haunted look in Elsa’s eyes. Otherwise she would have wanted details, and she didn’t trust herself not to try and change the future. Who knew what inferno might break loose if Emma actually managed to change anything.

“How can there be a Disney movie if Elsa lives in the future?” Regina murmured and Emma relaxed, glad about the change of topic.

“There’s a Hans Christian Anderson story about an Ice Queen, I think.”

“Evil?”

Emma shrugged, trying to stay casual.

“Nope, I think Wicked.”

Regina snorted.

“Not funny, Emma.”

“Can’t help that most witches are portrayed that way.”

“You aren’t.”

Smiling, Emma turned to Regina.

“I haven’t found a story about Snow White’s daughter yet.”

Regina grinned.

“Maybe our son will write it.”

“Maybe.”

“He might become a famous author.”

“As long as no one comes looking for Storybrooke, I’m fine with that.”

“Hm... Good point.”

Hesitantly, Emma reached out to take Regina’s hand in her own. Regina tensed up for a moment, only to lay her head against Emma’s shoulder. She lightly, maddeningly, moved her thumb against Emma’s wrist.

“Should we talk about this then?”

“Do you want to start?”

“Emma...”

Emma turned at the reproaching tone.

“What?”

Regina was biting her lip, immediately stopping Emma’s thought process short, giving Emma another idea. She leaned forward, closely watching Regina’s reaction.

“You know, I’m really not good with words.”

Regina’s breathing hitched and Emma took it as invitation.

The kiss was still slow and hesitant, but soon they moved closer together, letting hands slowly wander over jeans and shirt and pants and blouse. Somehow Regina had rolled herself on top of her or Emma had pulled her or the both of them had worked together. Emma’s hands moved over slender sides, grazing shoulder blades. Regina sucked in a breath and Emma smirked into the kiss, breathing rather shallow herself. In turn Regina nibbled at Emma’s lower lip, drawing out a low moan, until Emma could feel Regina smirking against Emma’s throat, kissing and nibbling her way over the sensitive skin.

Emma moaned again until she chuckled at Regina’s satisfied hum.

“Something funny?” Regina breathed against her ear, barely stopping with her exploration of Emma’s throat, now moving to her collarbone.

“No,” Emma answered, her hands slowly working to pull Regina’s blouse out of her pants, marveling at the soft skin underneath. Regina sucked in another harsh breath as Emma touched naked skin and Emma used the distraction to find her lips again, deepening the kiss, reveling in their easy rhythm.

It was Emma who pulled back first, resting her forehead against Regina’s.

“What are we doing?”

“I do believe one calls it kissing.”

Emma chuckled before she took a deep breath.

“But it’s not just kissing.”

Regina hummed in agreement. She rolled off of Emma, placing her hand on Emma’s stomach while she laid down on her side, taking in Emma’s body, their eyes meeting last.

The unveiled desire in Regina’s eyes made Emma swallow, her throat suddenly rather dry. Without a conscious thought her tongue shot out to wet her lips. She felt hot and cold; hot desire running through her, deeper than simple lust, scarier, followed by cold, gut-wrenching fear.

“No, it is not,” she agreed, forcing herself to keep the eye contact.

It would be so easy to lean forward again, postpone this conversation for later, prevent it from ever happening at all. Or much, much later. After a lot of distractions…

Judging by the way Regina smirked at her, she knew exactly where Emma’s thoughts were headed.

“Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Emma chuckled.

“Well, you made my mind go there…”

“Did I ?”

“Yes! With all your…”

She made an all-encompassing gesture before falling back against the pillow.

“Ugh.”

Regina chuckled.

“You really do have a way with words.”

“Regina…”

She felt Regina move closer to her, tugging a bit on the pillow before laying down beside her, their bodies lightly touching at their shoulders, arms, hips, and their legs. Regina sighed.

“I don’t know either.”

“What?”

“What we’re doing.”

“Lying in bed together?”

“Exactly.”

This time it was Emma who rolled to the side to face Regina.

“Maybe that’s okay,” Emma shrugged, continuing unsure. “Not knowing?”

Regina just raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, I see how that can be a good thing. If Henry asks us why we’re kissing, I’ll be sure to tell him that we both don’t know.”

Emma simply smirked.

“So… There’s kissing in the future?”

Regina’s fist hit her shoulder, knocking her onto her back again.

“Hey!”

“Mind, gutter.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Regina raised an eyebrow and laughed at that, and for the first time, Emma realized the unusually high pitch of Regina’s laughter. Normally it was deeper, more throaty, resonating within Emma.

So she wasn’t the only one being nervous.

That was almost a relief.

She tilted her head, surprised to end up almost nose to nose with Regina.

“We could figure it out together?”

Regina didn’t blink.

“We have a child together.”

“Yeah,” Emma breathed, frowning slightly.

“Usually that happens a bit later, if at all.”

“Later?”

“You know, after the dating part.”

Regina knitted her brows.

“I think we’ve dated enough.”

“What?”

“What else do you call all these family dinners? And I’m not even counting that disgusting animal your parents made for us in Neverland.”

Emma scrunched up her nose.

“Ugh, do not talk about that. Ever.”

“I didn’t hear you complain. You ate that vile thing.”

“I was being nice.”

“Your mother surely appreciated it.”

Yeah. Her mother had really sounded appreciative later on. For a moment, Emma remembered all that had happened in Neverland with Snow… And now...

“You mother does a lot of stupid things, Emma. They’re not always directed at you.”

When she met Regina’s eyes again, the nervous edge was gone; there was only kindness.

“Did you just defend my mother?”

Regina rolled her eyes and leaned back again.

“You must really like me.”

“You better be careful,” Regina growled, jabbing at her side.

“Hey!”

Emma flinched away, feeling the bed end under her, only to be caught by a hand around her hip, Regina’s face perilously close to Emma’s breasts. They both froze.

“You were falling.”

“Sure,” Emma nodded, she felt at the empty air beside her and lowered her head to meet Regina’s lips again. They immediately fell into a quicker rhythm that got dangerously more passionate with every contact. Emma turned them around so that she was lying on top of Regina. She stopped their kiss to nibble at Regina’s lower lip, tracing her jaw with soft kisses, setting open-mouthed kisses on her throat, nipping at the soft skin there, finding places that made Regina’s breath shallow. Only then did she lean toward her ear, whispering.

“Thanks for saving me.”

It seemed to take Regina a moment to hear her. Then she huffed.

“You are insufferable.”

Before Emma could protest, Regina silenced her again until Emma completely forgot what she was about to complain about.

This time their hands grew bolder, slipping under shirts and blouses, stroking bare skin, kissing passionately at times then maddeningly slow again.

Emma discovered that Regina was really sensitive at her sides, that her breathing turned shallower when she grazed her lower back. She learned that Regina’s teeth on her neck made her lose all her sense of thought.

They both seemed hesitant to go further, but Emma didn’t know what they would have done if her phone hadn’t started ringing. Regina sat up, scowling, while Emma fished for the phone beside the bed.

“It’s the middle of the night.”

“It’s just after half past ten,” Emma protested, noticing the time on the display.

“It’s my mother...”

For a moment Regina looked concerned but as Emma answered the phone, only to have Snow ask her about sleeping through the night and feeding and colics and sickness, she nodded that everything was okay and Regina let herself fall back onto the pillow.

Her cheeks were flushed, her hair mussed, her blouse completely untucked, revealing beautiful olive skin.

“Emma? Are you listening to me?”

“Of course. I’m sorry but I don’t know what to do either. Have you tried rocking him until he falls asleep?”

“Of course! He wakes up every time I try to put him down again… I don’t know what to do…”

“You’ll just have to try to find out what works for you both. I promise it will work.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you, Emma. Are you at Regina’s again?”

“Yes.”

“The couch must be quite comfortable.”

“I’m actually in the guest bedroom.”

“Oh, good.”

Snow didn’t think it was good at all.

“Mom, I’ll be with you tomorrow, okay?”

“You will?”

“Yes. But you know that I’ll have to find my own apartment, right?”

The baby was wailing again, almost drowning out Snow’s answer.

“Yes, of course.”

It didn’t sound like she was agreeing at all.

“See you tomorrow, honey. Have a good night.”

“Good night. Kiss the baby for me.”

At that Snow hung up.

Emma laid down next to Regina, looking at the white ceiling, keeping her thoughts carefully empty.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Do you want to go to sleep?”

“Hm.”

Regina slowly sat up.

“I could…”

She made a gesture to the door and Emma nodded slowly.

“Sure, yes, that makes sense.”

“Alright.”

But when Regina stood up, it didn’t seem alright. Emma sat up and caught her wrist.

She opened her mouth but the words didn’t come out.

What if Regina said no?

“The guest bed is more comfortable than the couch, you know?”

Feeling like she should slap herself, Emma looked down in embarrassment.

Of course Regina stepped away, disentangling her wrist from Emma’s grip.

“I’ll get changed and be back in five?”

Surprised, Emma looked up and nodded.

“Yes.”

After all they _had_ shared the couch last night and the guest bed was far more comfortable.

 

* * *

 

Henry woke up to his own alarm clock. Confused, he looked around his room.

He was home. He never woke up to his own alarm clock at home.

His mom usually woke him fifteen minutes earlier. His own alarm was a reassurance, he turned off every morning before it sounded.

Not today.

Remembering last night’s events, he carefully crept out of his room. Downstairs everything looked the same but it was silent. Uncomfortably silent.

He found his mothers curled up together in the guest room.

For a moment he simply stared.

Elsa had told him about this. He hadn’t believed her at first, thinking she was pulling his leg by confirming his wishes, telling him he was right, but then they had fallen asleep together on the couch, thinking he hadn’t noticed.

Elsa had ruffled his hair and told him that he once told her that he had never thought it would happen so soon, but someone had told him that it was gonna be okay. She had only just realized that this someone had been her.

For a moment, he had thought she was talking crazy.

Then his mom had laughed out loud at something his ma had done and they had both sounded so…

Happy.

After that he had just known.

And he was happy for them.

He was happy that it meant there’d be no more fighting.

The longer he thought about it, the more he liked it.

He hadn’t realized it but this was his Happy Ending.

This was their Happy Ending.

Unfortunately, Elsa had told him that he had to be patient.

Both of his moms had been hurt in the past and might need time.

He thought that was stupid but Elsa was from the future, so she had to know, right?

So he just looked at them for a minute and smiled before he trudged downstairs and made himself cereal. He mixed the healthy ones with the chocolate flakes, hoping his mom would be okay with that. Taking another look at the clock, he started the coffee machine. He hoped they had set some alarm.

He wasn’t the least bit surprised when his mom came down, only greeting him with a tired smile, and took to her coffee like a life line.

Emma, who was hurriedly dressing while stumbling down the stairs, seemed amused by Regina’s attitude. She winked at Henry, oblivious to the fact that he knew.

“Does she always look like that in the mornings?” Emma asked with a smile.

Regina grunted, took her mug, and moved back upstairs, curling into her robe, and hiding a yawn behind her hand.

Henry couldn’t help himself and laughed at Emma’s slackjaw expression.

“Hey, kid. Don’t be unfair. She always looks so collected, even in the morning.”

“Why do you think she gets up so early?”

“So, um…?” Emma moved a hand through her curls.

“That’s normal?”

Henry nodded, hiding his grin behind his cereal before he remembered something else.

“Hey, what are they going to do with Aunt Zelena?”

“ _Aunt_ Zelena?”

He just shrugged. They were all family, Emma had to get used to that. Elsa had said so.

“Okay, ehm. They’ve decided that she’ll get house arrest for now. We’ll have to put up a magical barrier around wherever she’ll be staying.”

He nodded wisely.

“Yeah, but you know, you also have to keep anyone else out of where she’s staying, right?”

Emma tilted her head in concern, looking at him closely. She was doing that whenever she felt like he was thinking about something that he shouldn’t have to worry about. Still, she couldn’t change that he knew about mobs and stupid townsfolk.

They didn’t like his mom being free; they still didn’t.

Who knew how they were going to react to Zelena?

“Sure, kid. We know.”

Suddenly, something occurred to him.

“Did you know that our basement has its own bathroom and kitchen? Like, for subletting?”

This earned him another suspicious glance, but he noticed that Emma’s gears started working.

“I’ll have to ask Regina about that.”

She turned around to head for the stairs and Henry chuckled.

“Ask in half an hour.”

_Honestly. Hadn’t she seen Regina?_

“I need to leave for the station now…”

He shrugged.

“Then call in half an hour.”

Emma rolled her eyes but called an ‘I love you’ over her shoulder before she left. Henry answered without hesitation.

It was new, Emma’s open affections.

Well, somewhat.

He remembered them all his life. The small gestures both his mothers bestowed on him in their own way. Emma ruffling his hair, tickling his sides, pulling him tightly against her for embraces, Regina lifting his chin up to talk to him, arranging his hair, stroking his chin, always kneeling down to him to pull him into a protective embrace.

He would look out for them, make sure that they were both going to stay with him.

Just as Elsa had promised him - they were going to be a big family.

 

* * *

 

Ruby was sitting in Emma’s chair when Emma got into the station.

For a moment, Emma just stopped and stared. Ruby’s cheeks were red with excitement, her eyes large. There were three empty mugs on her desk, hinting that Ruby might have worked through the night.

“Ruby?”

“Emma!”

Ruby waved her over immediately.

“I found it! I couldn’t call because you thought it might not be safe, but I found it!”

“You found what?” she asked, slowly moving over to her desk.

“The backup server. It was exactly like you said. I used all of your codes and it took me all night but I just got through and Zelena wasn’t lying.”

Finally intrigued, Emma bent down next to Ruby, her eyes on the tiny screen of her own laptop.

It was the same scene Regina, Kathryn, and Rumple had seen after Zelena had disappeared. Zelena was sitting in her cell, suddenly standing up.

Only it _was_ Rumple that was coming into her cell, talking, clearly flaunting, until he drew his dagger and put it into Zelena’s abdomen. The woman cracked and dissolved just like the other tape had shown, only a tiny sliver of green disappeared through the bars, hinting that she wasn’t dead.

“That bastard.”

Ruby nodded in agreement.

“And afterward he simply walked up to Belle and married her, thanking her for accepting his flaws and promising to be honest with her.”

Shuddering, Ruby grasped for Emma’s hand.

“I’m going to be sick, Emma.”

“I get that. We have to be careful, though.”

“Why? The dwarves have a cell ready, it is magic-proofed by Blue. You could enhance those protections but the only ones that can catch him are you and Regina.”

“Yeah, and when something goes wrong a lot of town property might suffer from it. We can’t act on our own. We have to get the council’s approval before that.”

But Ruby just snorted.

“Screw the council.”

“Really? Ruby, I thought you were a peace-loving creature.”

“I’m a werewolf and the council would gladly have me outlawed if they could.”

“Oh.”

Contemplating that, Emma made a mental reminder to ask Kathryn whether they could do the opposite; make sure that every citizen had the same rights and arrange a back door so that even the town council members have to be elected.

“So, how long can this be kept secret?”

Ruby’s hopeful gaze at her was almost painful to watch.

“I’ll call Regina and let them know that we have to make good on our plan.”

“And if someone is listening to our phone calls?”

“Well, then they’ll think that we’re talking about Zelena, won’t they?”

Finally, Ruby nodded in agreement.

“Sure, call Regina. I’ll take the laptop and protect it with my life.”

Emma just shook her head.

“No, sorry. But the council will want to see the proof. Otherwise we could have acted way earlier.”

Disgruntled, Ruby leaned back.

“Of course.”

“How’s Belle doing?”

Ruby shrugged.

“Trusting that bracelet Regina brought over to protect her. Really, thank Regina for it. Even if it doesn’t work in the end, it helped with Belle’s anxiety level.”

Emma nodded. Ruby had called her about that, but it was curious that Regina still hadn’t talked to her about how she knew of the magical binding at the wedding.

She was about to ask Ruby when the woman rubbed her eyes. Emma just shook her head at her.

“You have to go to bed.”

Proving her right, Ruby yawned when she opened her mouth to protest. It was easy to send her home after that.

Convincing Regina that facing Rumple was the right thing to do was more difficult. Not wanting to talk on the phone, they met an hour before the council meeting in the mayor’s office. Kathryn allowed her to use it, on account of Regina still helping her with the town matters.

Now, though, Regina was trembling, leaning against the big oak table in comfort.

“Emma, this is madness.”

“You said, find a way, and we’ll do it.”

“I never meant…”

“You never thought I’d find a realistic way. Do you still want him free, Regina? Is that what this is?”

“No, of course not. He is a menace to have around. But if this fails, Emma, think about it. If this fails, we will have made him our enemy.”

“Neal is dead, but he wouldn’t kill his grandson’s mothers,” Emma claimed with a boldness she didn’t feel. She had seen Rumple look at Henry after they had found out. He had been nice enough but there had never been real love in his gaze.

“You don’t know that.”

Regina’s shoulders were slumped, she fidgeted with her fingers, avoiding Emma’s eyes. She looked so small.

“He puts family above everything, right?”

It was a question that only someone who knew him could answer. And without a doubt, Regina knew Rumple. And yet, she avoided Emma’s eyes.

“I can’t tell you that, Emma.”

Suddenly, hesitantly, Regina reached out to draw Emma closer by her wrist.

“He wouldn’t want to raise Henry himself and he’d want him to be happy. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t kill one mother to make an example for the other.”

When their eyes finally met, Regina’s fear was written all over her face so clearly, Emma felt her stomach twist.

“Would you rather have him run around freely until he decides that having us both around is too dangerous? If you truly think him capable of that, wouldn’t it be better to put him away to keep you, us, safe?”

She watched Regina gnaw on her lower lip. Reining in the desire, to lean forward and kiss the tension away, Emma squeezed Regina’s hand in reassurance and waited.

They had discussed this, right after she had come back. Discussed it and decided, and yet…

When Emma understood the hesitation she did lean in and kissed Regina, trying to make it better, trying to express all that she didn’t know how to say in a kiss. It was an urgent kiss, hard at first, and Regina responded immediately, desperately, pulling Emma closer until their bodies were flush together. Until Emma calmed down and kissed her more slowly, reassuringly.

It was curious. When Regina’s hands stopped trembling, some of the fear gone, Emma felt her own fingers twitch as she stroked Regina’s back.

Emma stopped the kiss, nuzzling her nose against Regina’s, ignoring her shivering hands. Just then Regina took her hands in her own, kissing both of them lightly.

They looked at each other for a long moment, silent questions in their eyes, questions they didn’t dare to ask.

It was Regina who broke the silence first, surprising Emma with pure honesty, all pretense stripped away.

“I’m afraid of losing this before we ever really have a chance to explore what this can be.”

And Emma’s hands started to tremble again - she gave Regina a shaky smile. She was afraid of…

Untangling their hands, Emma stepped back, shaking her head.

“I can’t…”

Instead of coming after her, Regina simply held her gaze and nodded.

“I know.”

Emma stood where she was and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.

They had kissed instead of talking.

Kisses and, okay, making-out, were something that can be written off as an error of judgement, of feeling emotional, as… something.

But this?

These looks, this… closeness.

There was no way to negotiate her way out of this.

So she stood, frozen to the ground, and tried to breathe.

“One day at a time?”

Surprised, Emma’s eyes flew open. There was a question in Regina’s voice, hesitancy in her eyes, and Emma felt bad for even…

“I’m not…”

She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath, trying to be sure of herself. Regina would feel insulted if she said this out loud. It would sound like she was mocking her instead of the ugly truth it was. So she tried something different, something that was no less honest.

“I don’t know how to do this.”

When she met Regina’s gaze again, she was still leaning against the table but her shoulders were drawn up rigidly, protecting herself. Emma was shocked by the wry smile on Regina’s lips.

“Do you think I do?”

Helpless, Emma gestured between them.

“But you tried, you said…”

“I was tired of not trying, Emma. I am tired. But…”

The hand Regina offered up to Emma didn’t tremble, although Regina’s lower lip did.

“Isn’t trying and potentially failing better than closing yourself off forever?”

For a moment, Emma only stared. Then she chuckled at the absurdity and Regina’s hand fell away.

“No,” quickly, Emma moved over to her again until she stood as close as she could without touching.

“I… Is it stupid to say that the stakes are unbearably high?”

Regina cocked her head and looked at her for a long moment before she shook her head.

“They are high but I would hope it’s not unbearable. Emma, I’ve changed. I won’t promise anything, should anything ever happen to Henry… But I would try. I did try, in the Enchanted Forest. I’m not… I wouldn’t revert back to… just because.”

“God, no!”

Embarrassed, Emma made her stop before she could continue.

“It’s me. I don’t doubt you for a second, Regina. Honestly, believe me. I know that you have changed. I can see that. And I’ll probably forever regret the moment I doubted you, but…”

Emma shrugged.

“I’m me. I’m damaged and I don’t…”

She took a deep breath before she sincerely met Regina’s questioning gaze.

“I pretty much screw up everything. And I don’t want… Ugh,” Emma sighed and moved a hand through her hair.

“This, between us, that wouldn’t be just something, it’d be something else and I don’t want to screw up what we have. I…”

Emma stopped and glared at Regina when Regina chuckled.

“Really, I know I suck at trying to say something, but…”

“No, it’s not... Really, Emma. It’s… Are you honestly trying to tell me that you think you wouldn’t be good enough for me? That I, the Evil Queen, deserve better?”

Affronted, Emma’s glare deepened.

“You’re not the Evil Queen anymore.”

“No, but she’s still there, still within me. She’ll always be a part of me. I have accepted that and I know you have, too. Otherwise you would treat me differently. But, you’re good, Emma. You deserve all the happiness you can get. I, on the other hand, barely deserve anything.”

For a moment, Emma just stared at her. Then she scowled.

“That’s bullshit. I’m not good and you’re not evil and we’ve been through that discussion before.”

“Oh, have we, now?”

When Regina raised an eyebrow, Emma hit her lightly on the shoulder.

“Maybe you are a little mischievous.”

Regina simply smirked and pulled Emma closer.

“Am I?”

“Okay,” Emma conceded, breathing into Regina’s soft hair. “One day at a time.”

“Pity really, that you’ve put this gruesome thing on my agenda today.”

“Yeah, about that,” Emma leaned back again and took Regina’s hand in her own.

“I think I should demonstrate my plan for today.”

Under the circumstances it was almost too easy to focus on the right amount of fear and love. She aimed and together they froze the vase on the side table, including the flowers and the table.

“Emma?”

“Ha, I knew it would work!”

Victorious, she turned back to Regina.

“Still think we can’t capture him?”

The tiny smile on Regina’s lips told her all that she needed to know.

“Talk to me about this cell your mother’s dwarves built.”

Of course Regina knew about it; it had been meant for her in the beginning, after the first curse had been broken.  
  


* * *

  
Presented with the overwhelming evidence, the council had to agree to contain Rumple. Even if some of them gave Regina wary glances, not trusting her to be honest.

It was mostly Emma’s determined presentation, Kathryn’s support, and the tape that convinced them to allow Emma and Regina to risk their lives to protect themselves and the town.

Even Snow voted for them to intervene, though only after asking more questions than any of the others combined.

Afterwards, Snow took Emma to the side while Regina nodded at Emma and motioned to her phone, leaving for Kathryn’s office again.

Snow watched everyone leave before giving Emma a wide smile.

“I hope you know that I only asked so many questions because I am concerned about your safety. Your father and I both are.”

Emma sighed, barely suppressing the desire to roll her eyes. She wasn’t sure she’d ever really get used to Snow’s ability to hover.

In some way her year away had made that actually worse.

Snow and David had missed her terribly while Emma had been happy not knowing her parents. She feels guilty about that, she does, but it doesn’t change the fact that she had reclaimed her independence. And she wasn’t going to try and change back into the good girl they wanted her to be.

She was a woman with a mind of her own and this time around she had done things on her own. Going after Zelena for example, not leaving her son with Snow as much as Snow would have wanted because Henry would have thought it weird before he got his memories back.

David seemed to have accepted it with a silent nod and his easy smile, while Snow…

Well, Snow cornered her after town meetings, and called, and…

Hovered.

Even with a baby occupying her time.

So Emma forced herself to smile at her.

“I am safe. David knows that I’m careful.”

He had been out with them to find Zelena while Snow had asked for ice cream and carrots. He had actually hesitated before speaking about the baby in front of Emma.

David really wasn’t much for words, but Emma had learned that his looks of concern made up for that more often than not.

Snow, on the other hand, huffed too much - just like right about now - before she leaned in to put her hand on Emma’s shoulder for a moment.

“You can never be safe enough for me. Emma, you do know that I worry, right?”

Emma nodded, a little bit softened, until she swayed back, making Snow’s hand fall away. She did know that Snow nagged because she worried.

“But you have Bae to worry about now.”

It was meant in a nice way. At least partially.

Snow did have Bae to worry about now.

And he needed worrying a lot more than Emma, who thought it suffocating. Mostly.

But somehow the words came out a lot more biting, almost petulant and Emma felt her eyes widen before Snow flinched.

“Emma…”

Emma swallowed at regret in Snow’s tone. She knew that the following words would make her angry.

But Snow just shook her head and stepped closer, taking Emma’s face between her hands to force Emma to look at her mother, really look at her, and see the trace of unshed tears in her eyes.

“No matter what happened, no matter how you try to push me away, I _do_ love you and I will never stop fighting to show you my love.”

Snow blinked and Emma tried to step back, but her mother held on.

“I know we never really talked about your brother. Partially because I was already heavily pregnant and partially because you came back more closed off than you were when we had to let you go. Again.”

The emotion in Snow’s voice was way too much for Emma. She didn’t know how to deal with it, not right now - she had things to do, a Dark One to imprison - and she probably wouldn’t know, not ever. Her eyes were starting to burn and she blinked, looking upwards to avoid crying.

Snow was waiting for her to say something, anything, but she couldn’t, she didn’t…

“I know you love Bae, I have seen it in the way you look at him. I just want you to know, always know, that we never wanted to replace you. That year, when I realized I was pregnant, I hated the thought at first. I wanted my daughter back, not another kid.”

Blinking quickly, Emma focused on her mother again, confused. But now it was Snow who looked to the side, remembering past things.

“Your father had nightmares for weeks, blaming himself for letting you go, both times.”

Snow visibly struggled with her words and Emma finally realized that she might have, should have, asked a long time ago, instead of shutting her out.

“I know we’re biologically the same age and our experiences in the world can’t be measured against each other, but I want you to know that I nag and worry because I want to see how your life turns out. I want to celebrate solstice,” Snow stopped and shook her head before giving Emma an almost sheepish smile. “Christmas. I want to celebrate Christmas with you and Thanksgiving and your birthday and I hover because I want to make up for all our lost time.”

By now Emma could only pretend that she didn’t feel the tears running down her cheeks.

Snow just brushed them away.

“I want to be a part of your life, get to know the amazing woman you grew up to be.”

Right now all that Emma wanted was for Snow to stop. This was more than she could take, unprepared, seemingly out of the blue. Unfortunately, Snow seemed to understand even that, because she nodded and stepped back, just after brushing Emma’s hair out of her face.

“So be careful? Take care of my little girl?”

It made Emma laugh. Well, choke, really, but who cared.

Snow smiled.

“Just because I know you can take care of yourself, doesn’t mean I won’t be sitting here worrying, alright?”

As a general rule Emma didn’t hug people. But in this moment it was all she could do not to surrender to her tears.

She felt Snow’s hands soothingly rub over her back and for a moment she could almost see the childhood she could have had without the idea hurting too much.

Snow didn’t let go until Emma moved back again, and when Emma looked at her again, Snow was smiling.

“So… Be careful?”

It was a silent concession to Emma’s inability to talk about her feelings and it was the first time Emma suspected that Snow might be okay with that.

So she nodded and smiled back.

“I’ll be careful.”

 

* * *

 

After the agreement Regina called Rumple, asking him for a meeting in an hour, telling him she wanted to get to know more about Zelena.

It wasn’t a lie. She did want to know more about her.

Only, she wouldn’t trust a word that the imp would tell her.

Fortunately, he seemed distracted, immediately agreeing without thinking about his earlier threats. It was another bad sign.

So Regina lead Emma back into the mayor’s office and locked the door behind them.

“You’re going to have to let me do this alone.”

Emma snorted but she stopped when Regina glared at her.

“You’re serious? You’re not being serious right now, are you?”

“He threatened you, Emma.”

Instead of fear, Emma scrunched up her face in irritation, putting her hands on her hips.

“Just now? How the hell does he…?”

“No, when I asked him about Belle. I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t going off his rails, when…”

“He was clearly already gone. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I…”

Not ready to deal with Emma’s anger, Regina shrugged. She hadn’t told her, because…

“I couldn’t.”

Emma crossed her arms, fixing Regina with a glare.

“Okay, you know, I get being protective, but this isn’t it. There will be no self-sacrificing anymore. Not for the entire town, not for anyone. We learned that we get the best results when we do this together. So, no keeping secrets, like, hey the Dark One wants to kill you. Understood?”

Surprised by Emma’s ferocity, Regina just nodded. Emma’s glare softened, but not much.

“Good. Then let’s go to the school to collect Henry and get him to my parents. We’ll put up a protective barrier around them, just in case.”

In case they didn’t succeed.

Regina nodded. It was a good idea.

If she hadn’t been so focused on Emma, she might have thought about Snow, David, and Bae as well. She wasn’t sure whether Rumple would use Henry to keep them in control, but she was certain that Rumple wouldn’t harm his grandchild.

It was the only reason why Emma thought first about protecting Henry.

“Okay.”

Regina agreed, despite trying very hard not to think about what chaos might ensue if Rumple did get away.

“Good.”

Suddenly, Emma was standing right in front of her, propping her face up with her forefinger.

“No self-sacrificing, okay?”

Almost losing herself in green eyes, Regina tried to nod and failed. She knew, if there was a choice to be made, she…

Instead of protesting, Emma leaned forward to catch her lips with her own.

“We’ll work on that.”

Dumbfounded, Regina nodded, unsure what exactly she was agreeing to, knowing that this wasn’t the time to argue.

Emma smiled contently until her phone rang. Rolling her eyes she accepted the call.

“Yeah?”

Regina rolled her eyes, finding her way back to normalcy. Emma still had no clue how to answer the phone.

“What is it?”

At the concern, Regina looked up, concentrating on Emma’s features.

“Are you sure?”

Emma seemed unusually tense but regarding their circumstances, a police call would be coming at the worst possible moment.

“Yes, alright. I’ll be there shortly.”

With that, the Sheriff disconnected the phone, her brow furrowed as she focused on Regina again.

“That was Belle. She said…”

Emma visible swallowed.

“She says she has Rumple’s dagger and she will give it to us before we go and face him.”

Shocked by the burst of sudden hope, Regina just stared at Emma.

“What?”

“She says Rumple just came by and your bracelet protected her. She says thanks and she trusts you now, trusts us with this.”

Regina couldn’t believe the words she was hearing. This was too perfect, too good of a timing, too much to be a coincidence.

“Stop thinking. Accept it, Regina. Sometimes good things do happen.”

Regina let out a brittle laugh but Emma leaned forward and silenced that sound with a hard kiss, resting her forehead against Regina’s afterward.

“We can do this. Together.”

And Regina found herself nodding.

 

* * *

 

Despite her earlier bravado, Emma tried to calm her nerves.

The plan was almost easy.

They’d meet Rumple at the pawn shop after Emma had gotten the dagger from Belle, and Regina had made sure that Henry was safe with his grandparents.

It would be really simple. Rumple was only expecting Regina, so Emma’s presence would distract him. They’d incapacitate Rumple, poof him to the mines, lock him up, and celebrate.

Just in case he’d put up a fight, Emma’s car was parked at the mines, so that they would have a non-magical way back, if their energy should be depleted.

Contemplating anything going wrong before that was not an option.

So, really, nothing could go wrong.

But when Emma entered Granny’s, the diner suspiciously empty, Emma was hit by a smell in the air, a smell of acid and burnt wool that made her heart clench in fear, and she realized that everything could go wrong.

Because they’d been played.

Ruby was bound to the wall with something that looked like thorns, and Belle was facing her with a dead look in her eyes.

The next moment Emma felt a barrier being drawn up, trapping her.

There was a flicker of fear in Belle’s eyes and before she could react, Emma was being shoved against the newly erected barrier.

A barrier that immediately grasped her and tried to feed on her magic. She felt it, layer after layer, her magic being stripped away from her, burning, freezing, scorching.

She tried to protect herself, raise her hands in front of her face, shove the barrier away but it curled around her, pierced her skin.

When she thought she could take no more, strong hands gripped for her throat.

Only then, did she scream.

It was cut off into a strangled gasp when Rumple pressed down on her windpipe.

Unable to breathe, unable to actively use magic, Emma willed herself to survive, unleashing the last bit of magic she had.

There was a flash of brightness, something green, something violet, golden, and then there was darkness.

 

* * *

 

Regina had just put up a barrier around Snow’s apartment when she felt the air next to her stir.

Ready for a threat, she raised her hands as green magic shimmered next to her, until a woman dressed in Regina’s clothes stepped out, shaking her red curls, the white sling on her arm being the only immaculate thing about her outfit and her upright stance.

She rolled her eyes at Regina.

“Relax, I’m no threat.”

Zelena cocked her head, regarding her own words until she shrugged.

“At least not to you.”

“What…?”

“No time to explain. We should go to the diner. Rumple is planning to attack Emma there. He controlled Belle to call her.”

Regina was about to ask how Zelena knew that, but she decided that it wasn’t really important right now.

Emma was more important.

So she nodded and poofed to Granny’s, feeling Zelena follow behind.

For a second Regina was too shocked to move, trying to understand the nightmare that was coming true before her eyes.

Rumple was holding Emma against one of the cruelest barriers Regina had ever seen, slowly stripping her of her magic and her life, torturing her in the process. He was about to suffocate her.

Feeling the fear trying to overwhelm her anger, Regina embraced her ire, striding forward to break through the barrier. Zelena, somehow immediately in front of her, reached the barrier first, brought it down, and stumbled to the ground afterward.

Disregarding her as well as everyone else, Regina walked forward until she was close enough to physically pull Rumple away from Emma, pushing him to the side.

One look was enough to determine that Emma was alive, although in pain, and maybe, hopefully, unconscious.

Rumple opened his arms in a wide gesture.

“Regina, nice of you to stop by.”

She waved her hand, dispelling whatever curse he had tried to throw at her and glared at him.

“Have you lost the last bit of your mind?”

“Belle?”

Concentrating on him, Regina didn’t dare to look at what was happening to her left but she heard Belle grunting and Zelena gave a satisfied murmur. It was enough for her.

“Seems like your wife is out of order.”

There was a shimmer in Rumple’s eyes as he took Regina in.

“You let her out of her prison.”

Technically Zelena did that herself, but Regina just shrugged.

“You said she was always stronger than me. Maybe you shouldn’t have tried to kill her. I think she was quite fond of you, before that little disagreement between the two of you.”

But Rumple just kept staring straight ahead at her, keeping Emma in his periphery, clearly uninterested with her distraction.

“You know I can’t let competition wreak havoc in my town. And it came as a bonus that I was coincidentally destroying everything that you call your precious family.”

It wasn’t lost on Regina that he was still far too intently focused on Emma instead of Zelena.

“What did she ever do to you?”

He shrugged, suddenly all pretense gone, his face an ugly mask of hate.

“She killed my son, took him from me after I found a way to keep him.”

Behind him, Zelena snarled.

“And what did I do? I was alone in my cell, helpless.”

For a second Rumple turned.

“You were a loose end and a lesson.”

Immediately, his eyes were on Regina again.

She heard Emma groan and was relieved and frightened at the same time.

“Emma?”

There was another painful moan until Emma seemed to realize the urgency of the situation.

“Fine,” she gritted out between her teeth and Regina felt some of her tension disappear.

“No, you’re not going to be fine,” Rumple murmured. “I’m going to make sure of that.”

Regina tensed up again. Looking into Rumple’s hate-distorted face she realized something with a clarity that scared her.

It had been a pure coincidence that Zelena and her had arrived just in time.

Rumple hadn’t been waiting for her, this wasn’t some ploy of his.

He really wanted to kill Emma.

There was no way around that anymore.

He had known they would come for him and manipulated Regina in not wanting to face him alone. He had manipulated not only her but everyone around them again and again.

He deserved to rot in a dark, dank cell.

Yet still, he was the man that gave her hope, that gave her the ability to reclaim her fate, write her own destiny, even if it had been a farce to fulfill his plan. As she heard Emma stumbling upright behind her, she knew that she was wrong.

Rumple hadn’t made her; she made herself.

When she lifted her head to face him again, he was staring at Emma, grinning darkly, as Regina stepped between them.

“I told you, Regina. Love is weakness.”

Emma threw herself forward, seeing whatever spell he was using before it came from him. With whatever strength Emma could still muster, she pushed herself, until she grasped Regina’s arm.

“No, it isn’t.”

Regina nodded grimly as she felt her own magic sending out a light blaze of ice, together with Emma’s.

He was frozen on the spot with a look of ugly bewilderment.

They had, after all, caught him in surprise, because he hadn’t thought them capable of change.

“Are you okay?”

Regina asked and Emma smiled and nodded reassuringly before she pointed to Rumple.

The magic of the Dark One worked immediately to be freed from the ice. Regina moved forward and transported the three of them to the mouth of the mines after exchanging a reassuring look with Zelena. She wasn’t sure why, but strangely, she did trust her sister to stay at Granny’s and help Belle and Ruby out.

The dwarves met them at the entrance and picked Rumple up to lay him on a cart to pull him to his cell.

They had no idea where the dagger was, but there was no way to get out of the cell.

Just like there had been none out of the last one he had been in.

“It’s done,” Emma said and tried to tug her away but Regina stubbornly followed the cart. She needed to see, she needed to be sure.

So she turned to Emma, trying to convey her need without words. It worked, Emma sighed but nodded and linked arms with her. It was only a small amount of weight, but Emma was trying to inconspicuously lean on her.

“Are you okay?”

When she had looked at Emma earlier, trying to ascertain how hurt she was, Emma had seemed okay. Now she smiled and nodded again, trying to reassure her.

For the moment, Regina let her.  
  


* * *

  
The Dark One pulled free of the ice magic just a couple of steps before his cell. He rose and shimmered, ready to teleport himself out of the situation.

Regina quickly scrambled forward and put her hand on his arm, fighting his magic. If he got out of here, there was no telling what he might do.

It helped that the mines were streaked with fairydust, or at the very least, diamonds that had the potential to become fairydust. The important part was that they were muffling the magic, making it possible to stop his disappearing act.

Unfortunately that made him angry.

He rose, foregoing his cane, limping as he walked right into Regina’s space. His hand shot out, immediately wrapping around her throat.

“You will learn to regret this for the rest of your sorry life, dear.”

Stunned, Regina couldn’t make her magic work, clawing at his arms. She could feel his magic making him strong - too strong.

Her vision swam in front of her as she lost the air in her lungs.

Regina felt dizzy when Rumple was finally pulled away from her. She fell to the ground, watching dazedly as Emma kicked Rumple into the cell, her foot glinting with magic. Leroy pushed the door close, and Emma put her hand on the lock, her magic lighting up in a blaze as she sealed the door shut.

Rumple, now on the ground as well, holding his stomach, still fixed Regina with his gaze.

“Remember that when I come for you and yours. I have warned you.”

She barely noticed how Emma pulled her up and lead her away from him, a secure arm around her back, the hand at her hip, steadying Regina’s weight when she stumbled over the stones on the ground.

Fortunately, Emma didn’t try to talk about it until they were outside. The brightness of the day and the warmth of the sun helped Regina calm down .

Yes, Rumple was going to be a problem but she also had a slight suspicion that she just might have enough time to figure out what to do about that.

Maybe she could find out when Elsa would be born or how old she was about now; that should give them a timeline.

At the very least, one could hope that Rumple would be locked up for a decade.

He deserved far worse.

 


	8. Chapter 7

“Henry asked me something this morning,” Emma said almost casually when they were in the car, away from the dwarves and David, and most importantly, Rumple.

She didn’t start the car though and it was mostly the way Emma balled her hands into fists that drew Regina’s attention back to the fact that she had been afraid for Emma, that Emma had gotten hurt.

She couldn’t even contemplate what she had felt when they had found Emma trapped in that barrier, barely conscious.

Her hand twitched to reach out for Emma’s, the wish to comfort her was there and it took her a moment to realize that she was allowed to, that maybe she could give Emma comfort.

It was a ridiculous idea in theory. Hher, being the cause for so many evil things, able to comfort Emma, the Savior.

Yet, Regina found herself reaching out, taking Emma’s hand in her own, and Emma turned her head and gave her a grateful smile.

Regina’s mouth responded in kind, smiling in a genuinely open way that felt as foreign as it made her feel at home.

She nodded and Emma breathed in deeply before she leaned forward and started the car.

“What did Henry ask you?”

Now that Emma’s tension has cleared somewhat, Regina remembered Emma’s too casual remark and Emma snorted.

“You know, honestly, it’s mostly funny, I guess.”

“Emma…”

“Yeah, so, he has been looking into the town’s apartment situation and he found a solution.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, apparently your basement is perfect to sublet.”

“Oh,” Regina breathed.

When had Henry seen something? He wouldn’t make this suggestion if he didn’t think she’d at least consider it. But there was no way Emma could move in now. They didn’t even know what this between them was, let alone…

“Oh? No complaints?”

“Complaints?”

“About Henry thinking it would be appropriate for your sister to move in with him.”

Regina let out a sigh of relief. Of course Emma wasn’t casually talking about moving in, least of all in a voice that suggested it would be ridiculous.

“Really?”

They stopped at a red light (one of the only two in Storybrooke) and Emma looked over at her, her eyebrows knitted.

“You don’t have any thoughts about this? Complaints? Anything?”

Contemplating the idea for a moment, Regina simply shrugged.

“We should maybe take Zelena back to the hospital after we stop by Granny’s.”

“You’re actually thinking about this?”

The amusement was gone, had shifted to incredulousness. Emma almost missed the green light.

“Well, I might, if you gave me a minute.”

“Regina…”

It was evident that Emma didn’t like the idea but Regina had started to wonder how to meet the council’s regulations.

“Have you heard about the council’s conditions?”

Exasperated, Emma blew a strand of hair from her face.

“Yes. House arrest. She has to go to mandated counseling. Dr. Simius has agreed to find some time in his schedule. We have to make a magical barrier that will prevent her from leaving whichever apartment will be found for her. I’m still debating with the council how much money they’re willing to spend on rent.”

“Not much, I’d presume.”

“No, they’re a bunch of fat penny-pinchers. I don’t know why you ever gave them any power at all.”

At that Regina chuckled.

“I didn’t. Their cursed selves abhorred council meetings and never made any decisions on them. They were a bunch of idiots whom I had promised a wealthy life. Nowadays it’s the royal brigade with their lords and ladies trying to reign Storybrooke.”

Emma gave a noncommittal grunt, clearly not happy about that, and Regina nodded.

“Yes, well, they are learning how to organize a small town, but it’s Kathryn who really has any say at all. Mostly because she’s the only one who actually knows how to negotiate and what democracy means.”

“You think they are dangerous?”

The worried note in Emma’s voice bothered Regina, but as Sheriff, Emma needed to be aware of the reality.

“Without a doubt. Some of them are power-hungry poor men. I didn’t stuck them with low-life jobs for no reason.”

“King George is a state’s attorney.”

“I owed him a favor.”

“For what?”

Regina carefully regarded Emma’s face. It wasn’t often that she asked about their past, at least in an non-amusing way.

“For not killing your father when he had him strung under the guillotine.”

“What?”

Regina waved her disbelief away.

“I needed him captured to draw your mother out. No matter, King George only asked that, should I ever have him in my control, I should offer him a nicer fate. I agreed; it seemed such a small prize. And a state attorney’s job consists mostly of filling a bunch of paperwork. Nothing ever really happened in Storybrooke. He had a comfortable fate.”

“Hm…”

She left Emma to ponder that for a while.

It lasted until they pulled up in front of Granny’s.

“When we left, Ruby was bound to the wall. Do you…?”

“I don’t know anything about how to reverse that spell, and you shouldn’t be able to drive, let alone do magic now.”

Emma just shrugged and got out of the car.

“I’m kinda getting used to living on the last shred of my magical ability.”

Regina rolled her eyes before she followed Emma inside.

She stopped short at the threshold.

Ruby was sitting in a booth, her face hidden in her hands, while Zelena was standing in front of Belle, who was standing unmoving in something that shimmered green.

“You put her in stasis?”

Zelena flinched before she turned around, but before Regina could get into her space, Ruby was between them.

“Don’t. She’s looking at the binding magic; she asked Belle for permission.”

Turning around to the sorceress in question Regina raised an eyebrow at Zelena’s defiance. She had her good arm placed on her hip, as she glared at Regina.

“I wanted to make Rumple pay.”

“By hurting Belle?”

“By unbinding her from him, foiling his plan.”

Regina stepped closer and moved her hand to free Belle of the stasis.

Instead of being thankful the woman glared at her.

“She almost had it.”

When Regina just cocked her head, Belle’s eyes flickered between her and Emma, finally understanding.

“Where is he?”

Instead of answering, Regina gave her a sympathetic look, while she saw Emma sit down next to Ruby, nudging her with her shoulder, receiving a weak smile in return.

“You’re still connected to him.”

Zelena rolled her eyes.

“Of course she is. What else would I be doing here?”

“Hurting him by hurting her?” Regina suggested without looking at her sister, holding out her hand in a silent request. Belle immediately complied, and Regina looked at the binding magic on Belle’s wrist.

It was always the pulse point, one of the strongest connections, one of the hardest to break.

“I don’t know how to break this Belle, but we will try to research and find out how to do it. For now, though, you are safe. Rumple is in a magic-proof cell and he shouldn’t be able to get out of it for a while.”

“We?” Zelena echoed, virtually right next to her, while Belle frowned. “For a while?”

“I have reason to believe that he will get out someday but that might be very much in the future.”

Belle nodded.

“Okay, then. It is possible to reverse that?”

Unsure, Regina shrugged.

“I can’t promise you anything.”

“I have seen something quite similar. I believe I can walk Regina through reversing it.”

It made Belle smile, so easily calmed, but Regina squinted at her sister.

“You can?”

Zelena shrugged one shoulder.

“I’m pretty sure that I can do it. We’ll see if you can.”

“Okay, you both be nice to each other”, Emma interrupted, shoving herself between them.

Both looked at Emma in bewilderment, when Emma nodded at Ruby, who had probably soundlessly pushed Emma between them.

She was standing next to Belle now, a hand at her upper arm.

“Are you okay?”

Belle nodded, turning fully to Ruby.

“Are you?”

Regina turned her gaze, feeling like she was intruding on their moment, but then she met Emma’s who just smiled at her in understanding.

“Oh hell, seriously?”

Turning to Zelena, Regina glared at her sister.

“Is there something you would like to add?”

“Yes, several things. However I will just contain myself and be happy with the fact that I know I could break that bond given a little more time.”

Having had enough with the day they just had, Regina just wordlessly jabbed Zelena’s shoulder. Zelena hissed and green magic flared up, until Emma wedged herself between them, hands raised in a soothing gesture.

“You know, not that I don’t appreciate that you’re getting to know each other as sisters, can we please get back to the hospital so that the doctor can see if Zelena hurt her shoulder by running around and facing Rumple?”

Without taking a breath, she turned fully to Zelena.

“Also. Explain.”

It was curious to watch Zelena falter under Emma’s steely gaze.

“Hm?”

“Magic? Showing up with Regina?”

“Oh, that.”

“Yes. That.”

Zelena tried to look unconcerned and, interestingly, failed spectacularly.

“Well, in the hospital I slowly noticed my magic returning.”

“You said the pendant took it away.”

“It did. Or at least, I thought it did.”

“So?”

“Rumpelstiltskin came in the night to tease me from the edge of the barrier. He wanted to goad me into leaving the room to attack him. Obviously I’m not that stupid, but I noticed my magic returning.”

“Of course it did”, Regina murmured, only to have Zelena glare at her.

“Okay, we’ll get you back to the hospital. Regina is right; magic or not, you’ll need to get checked out.”

With that, Emma said goodbye to Ruby and Belle before she steered Regina and Zelena outside.

The drive to the hospital was spent in an awkward silence.

Emma tried to explain to Dr. Simius that they had gotten Zelena to help with Rumple, that they had conjured her away, but it was evident that he wasn’t buying it.

Regina decided to wait outside of Zelena’s room until Emma joined her.

“You know that this won’t look pretty to the town council?”

Regina shrugged.

“I’m not the Mayor. It’s not exactly my problem.”

“It might be your problem, if you still want to get to know her. They can make that pretty difficult you know.”

Confused, Regina looked at Emma.

“Are you trying to convince me into letting her stay with Henry and me?”

Emma looked away.

“I was just thinking. We told her we weren’t going to kill her. We promised her a chance. But what chance will it be if she has to spend it in solitude? I think she is trying, re-evaluating her life.”

“Why would she do that? She has spent her life trying to get to me and now she just helps me against Rumple?”

Shrugging, Emma stood up.

“That’s something you should ask her, not me. I’m gonna go get a coffee. Want something?”

Regina nodded and watched Emma leave, smiling at the doctor when he came out of Zelena’s room, all the while debating with herself.

She tried to come up with a way to talk to Zelena. No matter how she saw the idea of her sister potentially living with her, it was Zelena’s choice, not anyone else’s.

Besides, she could always consider how it looked. People might go back to being afraid of her, the Evil Queen working together with the Wicked Witch to run the universe.

Before she knew what she was doing, she was standing in Zelena’s room, facing her sister.

Zelena was sitting on her hospital bed, still looking immaculate in Regina’s clothes. As she came in, Zelena smiled before she raised an eyebrow, clearly reminding herself to show contempt.

They shared a moment of silence before Regina awkwardly stood at the end of the bed.

“Do you know what the council ruled?”

There was a sliver of fear before Zelena straightened her shoulders. For a moment she reminded Regina so much of herself, of waiting for a death sentence, saying goodbye to her father, never believing that Snow would really go through with it until the last minute, the last second, when Snow called it off. Gave her a chance.

Regina swallowed, fidgeting with her fingers.  _ There's no death sentence.  _

“You are going to be subjected to house arrest. The council will pay an apartment for you, but…”

“But what? Emma told me about that, but didn’t say anything about stipulations. Am I going to have to do some public service? I hardly believe the local animal shelter will be happy to see me.”

Regina stopped moving her hands and closed the distance toward Zelena instead, seating herself on the bed.

“How did you get yourself acquainted to the local customs?”

“TV. You?”

“TV, books, magazines, some knowledge came with the curse as well, but it took me a bit longer, I think.”

Zelena waved her off with a perfectly executed hand gesture, still brimming with tension.

Regina hesitated before she met Zelena’s eyes again.

“There won’t be a death sentence. You can rehabilitate yourself.”

Zelena’s eyes were everywhere but on Regina, flickering through the hospital room she probably knew by heart.

“No death sentence? Not even after...?”

“No death sentence.”

Red curls swayed in a slow nod, while Regina watched the tension visibly ebb away as Zelena leaned back against the headrest.

“So, how does this work? House arrest?”

Regina found herself giving Zelena a small smile.

“Well, the council is prepared to pay for an apartment, but you have a choice.”

“What? Are they going to allow me a portal to go back to Oz? Without any control over my magic? Maybe with a new pendant? After what I did? Because that’s…”

“No.”

Both women flinched at Regina’s firm answer. She wasn’t going to let her sister be devoured by the wolves she wronged.

“You can, if you want, stay with me.”

Silence.

Regina didn’t dare look up, so she had no idea how Zelena was reacting. She only knew that the silence probably wasn’t a good sign. And she cursed Emma for it when she started talking just to fill the silence.

“I have a basement that’s basically another apartment. The house is on a hill, so you’d have windows in one room, none in the other, but there’s a ventilation system that’s pretty good, so there’s that. You’d have your own kitchen and bathroom. It’s probably bigger than any one-room apartment the council would pay. You don’t have to stay with us, though, because at first, there’d have to be a barrier around your quarters, not just for your safety, but for ours, since no one knows or trusts you. And we have to do something about your magic. They might want you to wear a bracelet that takes it away. We don’t know yet.”

After another moment of silence, Regina finally moved her eyes up, only to find Zelena staring at her with an unreadable expression.

“At first?”

Regina held her gaze, while mentally repeating her words. At first.

That was what she’d said.

At first.

Was it at first?

Was there a possibility for her to trust Zelena?

She had told her sister to rehabilitate herself. It was only fair if she actually gave her the chance to do so.

In her own house. With Henry around.

In their own house. Where they just had been housing a violent sorceress that didn’t have her magic under control.

Emma had told her that Zelena had given up her revenge and sacrificed herself for Marian. She had told Regina about Rumple and therefore saved Emma, even if it had been at the last minute. Maybe, Zelena was already starting. Maybe she had taken Regina’s words to heart.

So she met Zelena’s gaze unflinching.

“At first.”

Zelena nodded slowly, expression not revealing anything before her shoulders slumped a little, and she gave the smallest half smile Regina had ever seen.

“I’d like that.”

“The bigger space?”

Regina gave her the way out they both needed, knowing it was right when Zelena agreed immediately.

“What else?”

As if on cue, Emma knocked on the doorframe, carefully sticking her head in.

“So, how did it go?”

Simultaneously Regina and Zelena rolled their eyes and Emma just laughed.

“Are we packing your bags?”

Zelena made a gesture encompassing the entire room.

“Feel free to pack everything up.”

Now it was Emma’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Well, you could just tell me where you stored your evil attire. I’ll get your clothes for you.”

Both women rolled their eyes at that.

 

* * *

 

It took almost three months of meetings, rejecting ideas, discussing new ones, explaining theories of magic to Emma, and three bigger quarrels (two between Zelena and Regina, one between Regina and Emma) until they met with Belle to lift the binding.

Emma was confused that they wanted her to be there.

It wasn’t like she’d be that big of a help. Regina was still teaching her magic, only that now, most of the time, Zelena was around for lessons, too, and the town council insisted on Emma reporting on how it went.

To her surprise, it went pretty well.

Not only did both, okay, all three women, manage to (mostly) control their anger, but Dr. Simius had attested that Zelena was making progress in her therapy sessions.

Emma was pretty sure that there were still problems waiting, issues Regina and Zelena were both avoiding, like their mother.

One or two times Regina had asked about their trip to the past and Cora, but Emma had kept silent.

That day had ended with Emma retreating to her own apartment, and both Emma and Regina learning that they both sucked at apologizing.

Having Zelena poking sticks at their budding relationship wasn’t exactly making it easier for them.

Fortunately, Henry was thrilled.

He had even grown relaxed around magic. When Emma had asked about it, he had just shrugged, mumbled something about Elsa, and gone back to his room.

Now he was sitting on the stairs, visible from the angle Emma was perched at the couch, watching her as she observed Regina and Zelena moving their hands in scripted gestures over Belle’s arm. Ruby was also watching, sitting close to Belle.

They had discussed whether to show Zelena light magic. Regina had been against it because of the raw power her sister possessed, but Emma had argued that it should help with the control, especially because it came from different emotions.

In the end, Regina had agreed and Zelena had learned to smile, really, genuinely smile.

She even seemed more relaxed doing magic like this, and although she was focused, her shoulders weren’t as tense as before.

It was the same with Regina, but, like Ruby claimed, for completely different reasons.

Emma was ripped out of her thoughts when there was a bright surge of magic, flashing like lightning.

Everyone flinched back and Emma raised her hands in protection.

“What the hell?”

“It worked”, Belle murmured in awe, her smile radiant as she faced them.

“Thank you, Regina, thank you, Zelena.”

She leaned back to look at Ruby.

“It’s gone.”

“Are you sure?”

Immediately, Ruby inspected Belle’s hand before she nodded. Emma had no idea what her werewolf senses were making of magic but she didn’t doubt that Ruby could see something.

Regina snorted.

“Of course we’re sure.”

She looked exactly as affronted as Zelena and Emma grinned.

They had surely put a lot of time and effort in it, so they’d better be sure.

“So, someone promised me Granny’s after this?”

Strangely, her comment made Ruby pull up short.

“Yes. Would you mind if we come as well? We should celebrate together.”

Confused, Emma narrowed her eyes.

“It’s not like you wouldn’t be at Granny’s.”

“That’s just mean. It’s not my shift tonight and I was asking to accompany you.”

“Sure,” Emma shrugged, trying for nonchalance but growing worried. Ruby and Regina exchanged a glance that proved Emma’s suspicions. Something was up.

Henry’s enthusiasm at leaving for Granny’s was innocent enough but Zelena smirking while getting her jacket was the last straw.

“You’re coming?”

Zelena stopped in the middle of her movement.

“Unless I’m not invited?”

“Of course you are”, Regina answered in that tone of hers that implied how stupid the question was, producing the anti-magic bracelet and putting it on Zelena’s wrist.

“But…” Emma stuttered and Ruby laughed at her.

“Didn’t you hear? On account of her helping us and warning us about Rumple in the first place, Zelena starts to get day passes.”

“Really?”

Emma turned around to her girlfriend, but Regina just shrugged.

“Really.”

“Why did no one tell me?”

Confused, Emma slipped into the shoes Henry handed her.

Zelena shrugged.

“I thought I had.”

That was a lie.

A good one, wrapped in seeming carelessness, but a lie nevertheless.

Regina was not meeting her eyes, Henry’s grin was growing scarily wide, Belle blushed, and Ruby showed way too much teeth for Emma to be comfortable.

“Okay, what is going on?”

“Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport. I can breathe air for the first time in three months, you’re not going to ruin this for me, are you?”

And with that nice emotional blackmail attempt, Emma allowed Zelena to pull her outside.

Belle and Ruby hurried to Ruby’s car while Regina ushered them in her Mercedes.

“I know you explained these carriages to me and in theory I think I understand them, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re marvelous,” Zelena remarked. Emma was almost sure that Zelena wasn’t kidding.

“Wait till you see a plane!”

Henry regaled her with enthusiasm.

“I can’t imagine. I’d rather use magic.”

“But that doesn’t work outside of Storybrooke!”

Emma disregarded the two of them in the back in favor of scrutinizing Regina in the driver’s seat.

“What’s going on?”

Regina stared straight ahead, but there was a telling little twitch on her mouth. She was amused.

“You’re pulling a prank on me?”

For once, it was calming that Regina just rolled her eyes and nodded.

“Sure, dear.”

“Mom! Can we drive by Emma’s? I think I left my history book there!”

“Of course, Henry. Emma, could you call Ruby and let her know that we’re running late?”

“Can’t we just get that stupid book afterward? I’m really hungry.”

Before she had even finished her question, Henry was starting to enumerate a dozen reasons why it couldn’t wait, drowning everyone else out.

The twitch on Regina’s mouth grew more obvious. Emma grumbled, leaned back into her seat, called Ruby, who was suspiciously agreeing, and tried to concentrate on the fact that she should trust them.

Not Zelena maybe, she’d totally pull a prank on her, and, okay, maybe Regina and Henry would find that funny like that time Zelena exchanged her favorite cornflakes, but they wouldn’t do anything harmful. Maybe embarrassing…

Okay, now she was officially worried.

Just when Emma was working herself up to freak out, she felt Regina’s hand on her knee, squeezing in comfort.

“Breathe. It’s for you. Don’t be an ass about it.”

Shocked, Emma glanced behind them but Henry had launched into a long explanation about aerodynamics, not caring that his mom just swore.

“You haven’t...?”

“I made sure your mother didn’t completely ruin the entire thing.”

Emma tried (and failed) to swallow. Instead, she heeded Regina’s advice and concentrated on her breathing, holding Regina’s hand firmly in her own.

“It’s gonna be okay. And if it isn’t, we’ll just let Zelena use some magic and everyone will run away scared.”

She let out a chortled breath, somehow relieved by that idea when Zelena stretched her arm and shook her wrist.

“Look, shiny new bracelet. I couldn’t do any harm, even if you wanted me to.”

Emma glared at her before she winked.

“You could pretend to, if I asked you to.”

“No magic outside the house except for danger or healing!”

Emma sighed at her son.

“Spoilsport.”

Regina snorted as she turned into the parking area near Emma’s apartment complex.

“He is well in his right.”

“To ask us not to embarrass him, yes, you are right. I’m just being stupid.”

“Well, that’s not new, Emma.”

Outraged, Emma glared at Regina who corrected the car’s position before turning the key.

“Good, let’s go.”

By now Emma wasn’t even surprised.

“If I asked you why we all have to go, you’d have a perfectly good explanation, wouldn’t you?”

She looked at Regina who smirked.

“Well, Henry does need to look for his book. You have the keys and we could hardly leave Zelena alone in the car.”

Zelena snickered, but Henry waved at her from the entrance.

“Come on, Ma.”

While Zelena strode after him, Emma tugged on Regina’s hand.

“Please tell me that you cleaned my apartment before letting my mother in?”

“I did clean your apartment. Henry helped. We sacrificed our riding lesson yesterday. And you’d better be happy about it because we prevented Snow from using pink tulle.”

“Dear God.”

Regina grinned, satisfied at Emma’s shock.

“Indeed. Now, are you ready?”

The sympathy in Regina’s eyes coupled with the genuine question were enough to make Emma nod. Regina was giving her an out, if it was too much for her.

But lately Emma was learning that too much wasn’t possible.

If you opened your heart to one person, others worked their way in more easily, and before you knew it you hadn’t just let your son in, but his adoptive mother, your parents, your fourteen week old brother, said adoptive mother’s sister, your intended godmother was becoming your best friend, you had a goddaughter of your own, and you had regular drinks with your deputies.

Well, not you, per se, but Emma did.

She had all that and she still froze up at the colorful banner screaming ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ in neon green. Until she felt her mother’s arms around her and David was smiling at her in that understated confident way of his that just made her feel safe.

Ruby and Belle had somehow managed to arrive before them, handing Emma a huge gift, telling her to open it later. Her kitchen was overflowing with food, coordinated by no other than Granny, who put a hand on Emma’s shoulder, arranging her glasses with the other hand, before she nodded at her.

“Happy Birthday, girl.”

Emma felt accepted.

No one (not counting Ruby) threw themselves into her arms and demanded her to smile and be grateful.

But even if the hugging still didn’t come natural to her, the smiling and the thank you’s were easy, at least today.

And when Roland scampered up to her, proudly displaying a picture he had made just for her, even the hugging came easy.

Suddenly Regina was at her side, praising Roland’s picture far better than Emma, genuinely earnest in her praise at the five-year-old’s drawing abilities.

Emma thanked him anyway and hugged him again, before Regina sent Roland back to his mother.

“Have you shown this to your Mama? I’m sure she’d like it very much.”

Marian looked up surprised, not at having so much of Roland’s enthusiasm directed at her, but at him climbing on top of her lap without any sign of hesitation.

She hugged him close, looking for Regina and smiling at her for a moment.

Emma put a hand around Regina’s waist and pulled her close.

“You did go over there two months ago, didn’t you?”

Regina just shrugged.

“I met them at the store, I couldn’t just walk past them when Roland was throwing a world class tantrum.”

Ignoring the casualness in Regina’s voice, Emma gave her a short kiss on the lips.

“You did help them.”

“Shut up.”

Robin cleared his throat and Emma leaned back, giving him an apologetic smile.

He started thanking Regina, looking at Roland, and Emma had a feeling whatever Regina had done had been more substantial than ending a tantrum at the store.

Emma was still smiling at her when her deputies asked for her attention.

They had pitched in together and bought her a small portable safe, joking that she could now spontaneously sleep wherever she wanted without always having to leave her gun at the station. Mulan was winking at her during the other deputy’s speech. She was holding Aurora’s baby in her arms, carefully waving with the little girl’s hand and smiling at Emma.

Regina had been right.

At the first sign of riots, Mulan had left to protect her Queen.

Emma wasn’t holding a grudge for it.

She had done the same.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is an epilogue, set four years into the future.  
> It mainly deals with the Swan-Mills family but it contains triggers of an adoption falling through and the description of the scene of a fatal car accident. I don't go into any graphic details but I thought I should mention it, so that if you're triggered by that, you can just let the story end here, which I think is a good point as well.


	9. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning and spoiler(!): In the following there is the scene of a fatal car accident - there will also be a discussion about unsuccessful adoptions. Both can be triggering and I hope you forgive me for pointing it out and aren't put off by the spoiler-y nature of the warning. Otherwise have fun reading more about our favourite ladies!

Four years later

  
  


It had been calm for a couple of months, so when Emma got to the station to settle down with a bear claw, a perfect cup of coffee, and the recommended book on adoption instead of paperwork, she kind of felt like she was tempting fate.

So Emma wasn’t entirely surprised when there was a tug in her conscience, signaling a new magical occurrence.

Her first thought went to Zelena, but that was impossible.

She still wasn’t used to the thought that Zelena had sworn off magic, had made Emma and Regina seal it inside of her, but after the latest catastrophe it had been a wise decision.

Still, someone had wielded an unusual amount of magic somewhere near the north park.

Emma grabbed her phone but it rang before she could dial.

Regina.

“Did you feel it too?”

“Yes. I…”

Knowing very well where Regina currently was, Emma interrupted her.

“Can I go alone? It felt very small.”

“‘ginaaaa!” Bae screamed into the phone and Regina sighed.

“Alright. Send me a message when you’re there and call me every five minutes or I’ll leave your brother alone.”

Emma was moving to the cruiser before Regina had finished her sentence.

“Just bring him to my mom. And be nice.”

“I’m always nice. Be careful.”

“I will.”

This time, she meant it.

She didn’t say that she was always careful because they both knew it wasn’t true, but she was working on it, especially since the last close call, but there actually weren’t that many magic users in town you could trust.

It didn’t take Emma long to pinpoint the origin of the magic.

Strangely, it looked like it came from a totally normal house. Maybe it was a bit bigger but nowadays a bit bigger was almost the norm, with so much royalty in town.

So Emma carefully approached the door and rang.

Within a moment the door was hesitantly pulled open, revealing a stunning brunette, dressed in jeans and t-shirt, but yes, holding herself with a royal attitude.

Emma had gotten really good at picking them out immediately. She was also kind of confused as to why she didn’t recognize the woman. So, with an open smile, she offered her hand.

“I’m sorry, I’m Sheriff Swan, I’m just here to check out a disturbance.”

“Disturbance?”

Grey eyes grew wide and Emma smiled reassuringly.

“No cause for panic, Ma’am. I just wanted to make sure that no one was hurt. Did you see anything? Feel anything?”

The woman rose to her full height, seeming even more regal.

“We wouldn’t feel anything in our family.”

And there it was. Emma gave an internal sigh.

“I promise magic is nothing dangerous. If you or any family member wish to be taught about magic, we have weekly informative meetings at the town hall.”

As expected the woman narrowed her eyes at Emma’s impertinence.

“We don’t, under any circumstances, have..”

“Momma?”

At first Emma only saw a little girl running toward them. Then the kid looked up at her.

“Sheriff Swan!”

“Well, hello there, Anna!”

Emma kneeled down and held a hand up for the girl to high-five.

“How are you, big girl?”

“Perfect!”

“Perfect?”

“Yes, we were building a castle in the living room, do you wanna come watch?”

“No, little one. Maybe another time. I’m working.”

She gestured to her badge and the little girl nodded earnestly.

“Of course, you gotta protect people.”

Emma grinned again and ruffled Anna’s hair.

“That I do.”

She got up and smiled at Anna’s mother, happy that she knew at least one family member.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Anderson, it’s just good to know that everything is alright here.”

Instead of a friendly smile and dismissing her, Anna’s mother glared at her.

“How do you know my daughter?”

“She’s Bye’s sister!”

“Bae”, Emma tried to correct Anna, knowing it was in vain.

“Oh”, suddenly Mrs. Anderson’s entire demeanour changed.

“Right, Emma Swan, the Sheriff.”

One last time, Emma tried to smile while she nodded.

“Yes, and it seems your little darling here is one of my brother’s best friends.”

Anna nodded enthusiastically and her mother actually gave Emma a weak smile.

“Yes. Well. Thank you for stopping by, Sheriff.”

“You’re welcome”, Emma answered with the first genuine smile for the woman.

On her way back she kept thinking about what kind of magic she had felt, but she just couldn’t manage to place it.

They needed to have a look at the family and just wait to see whether it was a singular occurrence or if more was coming.

 

* * *

 

The next time a surge of energy announced itself, it couldn’t have come at a more unfortunate timing. Regina was stuck in an emergency Saturday morning town meeting,  defending herself against allegedly using magic to influence the election.

And Emma…

Well, Emma was busy entertaining an outgoing three-year-old girl.

It was the first time they were allowed to take Paula home for the weekend. The social worker was set to meet them tomorrow, to have a look at their living situation and how Paula would fit into it.

Currently, the little girl with her large dark eyes had managed to spill her entire lunch into her wild brown curls.

“Look Emma, p’etty.”

One second.

Emma had been distracted by the magic for one second.

Spilled spaghetti with bolognese sauce was anything but pretty, but the red streaks covering the girl’s face and the pale noodles in her dark hair looked so ridiculous that Emma was torn between laughing and taking a picture.

Instead, she shook her head at the girl.

“No, Paula, that’s not pretty. You are not supposed to play with the food and now we’re going to have to clean you up.”

Immediately the girl’s lower lip started to quiver, tears formed in her eyes, and Emma smiled at her in a forgiving way.

“You know, you can just tell me when you aren’t hungry anymore.”

Fortunately the threat of crying turned into pouting, so Emma leaned forward and started to gather up the worst of the mess with an preemptively placed towel.

This was an entirely new level of food mess. Either Henry had actually been better at eating, or Regina had been so frustrated at messes like this one that they hadn’t made it into Emma’s happy memories.

“Didn’t you like the sauce?”

She regretted asking at once when the girl violently shook her head, spraying the sauce all over the kitchen floor.

“No, was yummy, just Paula’s full.”

Emma grinned at the girl, dabbing at her face to make sure that no sauce could run into her eyes.

“You know, if you’re full you can just say so.”

Letting her ponder that for a moment, Emma stood up, wrapped the towel around the girl’s hair, and lifted her up out of her seat.

“And now we’re going to get you cleaned up.”

Of course her phone rang a couple of minutes later while she was rinsing Paula’s hair. With the girl giggling at the water in the tub, and hands wet, Emma did what she probably shouldn’t do and used magic to take the call, putting it on speaker immediately.

“We said this was going to be an incident-free weekend,” she complained.

“Emma, I can still lose the election here.”

“You won the election, again, I might add, so just like four years ago, it will be okay. I won’t leave the midget with my mom. If we can’t even make it through a weekend…”

“Emma, this one was big, and the real question would be whether we can protect her for a weekend.”

Emma sighed, put the shower head away and watched Paula giggling at the bubbles.

“Where are you?”

“Tub. We had an incident.”

“So, no incident-free weekend?”

“Shut up.”

“Use..”

“Can’t. We agreed.”

It sucked, but they had agreed to make it a magic free house until the adoption was final. They didn’t want to hide themselves from the child, but if…

If something happened and she would grow up outside of Storybrooke, they couldn’t have her called crazy because she spoke of magic.

It had been Henry who had made and stuck to this point.

So, they had agreed.

“Emma…”

“I’ll call my mom. But she’ll need to come here and it might take fifteen minutes to have Paula ready.”

“Okay, I’ll call Snow.”

“Thank you.”

Of course it took Snow no longer than ten minutes to get Bae ready for transport, into her car, and across the block to their mansion.

In a personal record that Emma couldn’t help but be impressed with herself, Paula was dressed, hair dried, and in the living room corner choosing between a newly improved (self-made by Emma) children’s kitchen and a box with bricks.

Even Snow looked impressed once Emma mentioned the kitchen disaster. She kissed Paula goodbye, hugged her little brother, and as soon as she was through the door, magically changed her outfit from comfy jeans to halfway professional before she poofed to a street that was uncomfortably close to Alex’s birthday party.

Considering it was Paula’s first weekend with them, a test weekend, Ella and Thomas had accepted Emma’s apology. Originally she had planned to stop by with Snow and Bae for an hour after the afternoon nap that Snow was hopefully putting the kids down to right about now.

Frowning, Emma took in the cars that were already parked in front of the mansion.

There was no way to trace the wacky magic back to anyone if so many people had arrived early.

At least this time she could rule out the owners of the house. Between Thomas, Ella, and their daughter, there wasn’t the smallest threat of magic.

Emma took a deep breath, poofed Alexandra’s birthday present into her hands and rang the bell.

Predictably, Alex was very excited to see her while Ella was worried. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes wide, and she kept trying to smoothen her dress with her hands.

“Everything okay here?” Emma asked, reciprocating Alex’s fierce hug. Ella nodded just as her daughter did.

“Everything’s perfect! I love birthdays!”

Alex beamed up at her as she let go but Emma frowned.

“What is that in your hair, Alex?”

“Ice! We played with the ice cubes in the kitchen, it was awesome! Do you want to see?”

Ella flinched and Emma winked at her.

“Very cool, but I guess your mom didn’t quite allow you to do that, did she?”

Caught, Alex bit her lip and shook her head once.

“No, I don’t think she did…”

“Well, maybe, there should be no playing with ice cubes or anything else unless your mom allows it?”

“But it’s…”

“Even on your birthday, right?”

Alex sighed and gave a weak smile.

“Can I open my present now?”

“Of course!”

As soon as Emma had agreed, Alex had gotten rid of the wrapping paper.

“Awesome!”

She hugged Emma thanks and dashed off again.

“Lily! Look!”

When Emma turned to smile at Ella, the other woman grinned.

“Have you finally found your mom voice?”

Emma rolled her eyes.

“Must have gotten it from you.”

Ella chuckled at that, both knowing how long Ella had taken to find her way of parenting.

“So, why are you here?”

“Anyone doing magic for the little one?”

Ella’s eyes widened.

“Not that I know of…”

“Hey, it’s okay. Nothing happened. It’s just that someone powerful used magic and we know that it has to be controlled.”

“Yes, of course. So, no one was in danger?”

“Not that I could say. I can’t even feel it anymore, so it’s obviously gone.”

While Emma tried to calm Ella, she moved toward the living room, trying to glance at everyone there.

“Right” Ella nodded, apparently relieved.

“So, do you want to stay for a piece of cake or are you planning on coming back later?”

“Oh, I’ll just be back later with Snow, David, and Bae.”

“Bay!”

Emma knew that it was Anna before she turned around. The little brunette stood at the threshold frowning at Emma.

“Sorry, kid. Bae’s coming later. He’s having his afternoon nap.”

“I don’t need to sleep. I’m big like that.”

“Very cool”, Emma said. “What’s been going on in the kitchen?”

“We made ice cubes fly!”

Anna nodded wisely before she bit her lip, looking sheepish, but Emma just ruffled her hair and said goodbye to Anna, Ella, and Alex. She’d rather avoid helping with whatever puddle the kids had created, throwing ice cubes around.

Either a four-year-old screamed the truth at you or they knew not to say anything.

Maybe Emma had to visit Anna’s parents again, look for a sibling. Because she was certain that Anna wasn’t the magical child that didn’t have their powers under control.

 

* * *

 

The next magic disturbance happened only a couple of weeks later on a Sunday night.

Regina tensed up on her armchair, watching Emma grunt and turn around on the couch, hugging the blanket closer to her, in exchange for Henry who had trudged up to his room an hour ago.

“Did …?”

Regina’s voice broke, so she cleared her throat.

“Did you feel that?”

“I’m off duty.”

Regina felt cold inside.

“Emma…”

“I know. Someone has to.”

So Emma sat up, throwing the blanket off of her in the motion. She looked as terrible as Regina felt, hair standing in every direction, eyes bloodshot.

“You had a scotch.”

“I’m hardly drunk. I can go check out this stupid ass magical being who’s been messing with us for far too long now.”

Regina swallowed, walked over to her, and gently pushed her back unto the couch.

“I’ll take this one.”

Immediately, Emma slumped down, protectively laying her arm on her eyes, no doubt hiding from the light..

“God. I’m so sorry. I’m such an ass. Here you are, just as…”

“Emma”, Regina interrupted her before she could say more.

“I’ll go now, okay?”

“Be careful.”

“Always am.”

Before she was fully gone, Regina heard Emma losing control, releasing the sobs she had been keeping silent.

Regina swallowed again, trying and failing to get rid of the weight on her heart.

Instead she forced her mind to work analytically.

She had poofed herself almost to the origin of the strange magic this time. In theory she should be able to see whoever was ‘messing with them’.

In actuality, she was standing on the side of the road at an empty playground.

Short of calling out for someone, she couldn’t think of anything to do but walk around and explore.

There was no living soul but her present. The only thing she did find was a deep puddle when she stepped around the monkey bars.

She sighed and hugged her arms to her chest. Feeling cold and alone and very not in the mood for this kind of hide-and-seek nonsense, she went back home.

When she reappeared in the living room, Emma was still crying in strangled sobs, as she curled herself into the couch, trying to contain her grief.

For one moment Regina, hesitated, remembering Emma’s previous hesitation, how she had pulled away, but the next sob broke every reserve she might had. In an instant, she was next to Emma, cradling her.

Now there was no hesitation when Emma molded into her, her sobs deepening, while Regina clung to her, needing as much support as she was giving.

After a long moment, Emma’s shaking slowed down and she lifted her head, clumsy hands trying to wipe away Regina’s silent tears.

And failing terribly.

Regina gave Emma a fond look before she rested her forehead against Emma’s, Emma’s hands still cradling her head.

“I got you.”

“And I got you.”

They stayed like this until Emma let out a small groan and shifted, stretching her back.

“God, I’m too old for sitting like this.”

Regina chuckled and leaned towards the table, handing Emma the tissues.

“Thanks.”

Emma smiled gratefully before she blew her nose and took a second tissue to rub under her eyes.

“God, I have mascara all over my face, don’t I?”

Worried, Emma’s eyes flickered toward the beige couch and blanket.

Regina couldn’t care less about the state her couch was in. Without saying anything, she took the stained tissue out of Emma’s hands and took a new one to gently dab at Emma’s blackened cheeks and reprimand Emma.

“That’s some cheap mascara.”

“Used yours.”

At her glare, Emma just shrugged and Regina sighed, deeming this discussion not important right now.

She avoided Emma’s eyes, methodically wiping away the remnants of the mascara, while collecting her thoughts.

“I know I said that I couldn’t do it, but I’ve been thinking about your earlier suggestion.”

“I don’t…” Confused, Emma shook her head.

“Fostering.”

Emma froze.

“But…”

Regina swallowed, concentrating on the dabbing.

“I know what I said at first. We both know a lot has changed since then.”

“Regina…”

“No, just hear me out?”

Regina stopped, waiting for the nod, waiting for the okay to proceed with the difficult subject, relieved when Emma gave a tiny okay.

“We agreed on wanting another child.”

“Because we have this huge mansion and a lot of love to give between the two of us.”

“I remember the proposal,” Regina countered. Emma gave a weak smile and it was worth it. Regina smiled back at her before she continued cleaning Emma’s cheeks, effectively avoiding her eyes again.

“Now, I know that we agreed that neither of us would get pregnant.”

“With good reason”, Emma added and Regina agreed.

“With good reason,” she took a deep breath. “Anyway there are plenty of children out there who desperately need a home, children with problems, orphans, children with parents that can’t take care of them.”

“Regina…”

Regina ignored her warning voice.

“Between all of these we managed to find a girl whose mother had given her up for adoption. We took her in through the right process, visiting her in the orphanage, taking her out for the day, sleepovers, weekends…”

Emma flinched under her ministrations but Regina kept talking.

“And all of this happened in the process of adoption. We weren’t registered as foster parents, we wanted to adopt that little girl, and still it got taken away from us.”

She had to swallow the tears away again. Regina knew this was the time to say it, lay it out in the open. She also knew it could go horribly wrong.

“Paula was about to be ours because her mother had given her up for adoption, given no name for the father and still he found out that he had a daughter he hadn’t known about, claimed her, and took her home.”

She stopped dabbing at Emma’s cheeks, forming her hands into fists to keep them from shaking, before she unclenched them and placed them on Emma’s cheeks.

“Ilene said he is an upstanding citizen, he seemed nice, has a good job, and his mother will help him take care of Paula. She will be alright. She will be loved.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I have to believe in that.”

Emma closed her eyes and leaned into her.

“When did you become such a believer?”

“Henry.”

She heard Emma’s breathing hitch once before it evened out. Emma was ready to listen.

“I can believe that. I can believe that she will be alright. We only had her for a couple of days, Emma.”

“Three months, we got to know her three months ago.”

“I know.”

Regina took another deep breath.

“And it fucking hurts that she’s gone, after we had her with the promise for more.”

Emma nodded against her forehead and Regina pulled away, holding Emma’s gaze.

“We gave her all that we could, we gave her a distraction from that orphanage, something to look forward to, we gave her a home for the weekend. She will never know how terrible it can be.”

“Regina…”

“But others do. All the time.”

Emma tensed up all over, so Regina soothingly moved her thumbs over her cheeks.

“I know I said no fostering, but we’ll survive this. We thought we had her and now she’s gone. We can do the same for others what we did for her, give them a home for as long as they need it. And when it turns out that they don’t have anyone else, that it’s us or an orphanage, we can make it permanent, if they want.”

“Regina, she’s just gone. They just...”

“I’m not saying that we’ll call Ilene now to give us a replacement. No child will replace the sweet memories we made with her. But I’m saying that we should think about it. Our situation is the same.”

“Regina…”

This time her name was a sigh, a surrender, an agreement.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

Shocked, Regina stopped moving the tissue. She wanted to talk about it, not immediately… Emma nodded, giving her a tired smile.

“Let’s talk about it tomorrow - okay?”

“Oh, yes. Okay.”

At her concession, Emma pulled Regina into her until they were both lying on the couch in each others arms.

“Thank you,” Emma mumbled against Regina’s collarbone.

“Thank you,” Regina answered, breathing into soft blonde hair.

 

* * *

 

It took Emma two more visits (because of three more occurrences), and an official (and officially declined) invitation for a seminar on naturally occurring magical abilities to really grow worried.

Afterward it all made so perfectly good sense, she blamed herself for not figuring it out sooner.

But then, so did Regina.

Of course it was another instance that lead to the moment of realization.

Emma was at the school, waiting for Henry, when she felt another quiver, just outside of the forest line on the coast. It was bigger than before and therefore definitely scarier.

This time she was the one to call.

“I’m with Henry. Where are you?”

“Town hall. I’m alone. You’ll bring him to your parents and we’ll meet there?”

“Sure. Be careful.”

“Promise.”

As soon as she ended the call, her cell rang again.

"I said I'll meet you there, you'll be fine."

There was a cough and then Robin's voice.

"Emma, it's me. Someone called in a car accident at the forest line, just behind the Jacobs’ house."

"That's where Regina and I are headed because of some flunky magic. Anything else?"

"Yes, it will sound weird, but... The car seems to have crashed because of black ice."

Completely stunned, Emma moved the phone from her ear to stare at it.

“It’s August.”

“I’m well aware of that. Now get your ass over there.”

“Oh, shut up. I’m still your boss.”

Worried, she lowered the phone and stared at the ground.

Black ice.

In August.

It was too warm for any kind of ice.

There weren’t even clouds in the sky.

“Ma?”

“Henry, get in the car. I’ll drive you over to your gram’s because I have to go back to work. I’m sorry.”

“Mom, grandma’s is literally ten minutes away from here.”

“Then get in!”

He shook his head but moved to the passenger door.

“What is it?”

“Car accident, black ice.”

“In August?”

“That’s what I said…”

Emma stopped grinning when she noticed the alarm on his face.

“Henry?”

“I’m gonna go to gram’s, you have to drive there now, meet mom immediately!”

One would think that at sixteen, he’d be too old for his dramatic antics.

“Mom!”

He screamed at her when she didn’t move.

“Henry, explain.”

“No time for that.”

He said and started to shove her to the car, opening the door for her.

“You know what, you should just poof there.”

“Henry?”

“I’ll be fine, promise. I’ll walk straight to gram’s. Promise!”

Those were two promises he usually didn’t make.

Worried, Emma nodded at him before she got into the car, parked it properly and poofed to the coastal street, just at the forest line.

She was a couple of hundred feet away but she could see the crashed car from here. It was folded around a group of trees.

Not only the road, but everything around the car was iced.

Emma heard Regina’s Mercedes approaching and she jumped onto the road, gesturing wildly. Regina stopped just short of the icy area, waving at her as she got out of the car.

“What are you doing?”

Emma gestured toward the ice, watching shock, understanding, and regret wash over Regina’s face in a matter of a second.

“Be careful walking. I’m going to look at the car.”

“Emma…”

“Everything’s frozen, I hardly think the car will burn out.”

“It isn’t frozen.”

Confused, Emma looked at it. Regina was right.

She hurried toward it anyway, afraid of what she’d find, but her training kicked in. There was no smoke to see, but she thought she could make out two people in the front, so she pushed the door open and tried to wriggle in from the back door.

“Emma…”

“There could be someone alive in here.”

At first, she didn’t see much, it was dark, cold, and her breath came out in white puffs, obstructing her vision even further.

There was a small book on the back seat, two child seats, but no children.

She heard Regina come closer, steps hesitant, creaking on the ice.

“No kids in here.”

It was so silent that Emma heard Regina’s sigh of relief.

The next moment Regina started calling out.

“Elsa?”

Emma tried not to let it get to her. Instead she looked to the front. Slowly, she could make out Mr. and Mrs. Anderson.

The sheriff leaned forward, Mrs. Anderson was closer, and she pressed her fingers against her neck, desperately trying to find a pulse, though judging by the missing puffs of breath she knew she wouldn’t find one.

“Mom’s dead”, she informed Regina, voice breaking even through the professional tone.

Regina’s only reaction was growing panic.

“Elsa?!”

Emma’s throat closed up with tears as she shifted her weight so that she could face Mr. Anderson. His eyes were wide open, he had an ugly deep gash on his forehead, broken glass from the window was everywhere, and Emma started feeling sick. Well, sicker.

There was no way that he was alive.

Still Emma had to know, so she pressed her fingers to his pulse point, feeling, waiting, holding her breath.

“Dad’s gone too.”

But her voice was just a whisper so she doubted Regina could hear her.

“Elsa? We’re here to help you. Where are you? Can you hear me?”

Desperate, Emma shifted again, putting her fingers on Mrs. Anderson’s pulse point again.

“Please, be alive.”

But there was still nothing. Although the woman’s face was untarnished, she was dead.

Feeling her stomach revolt, Emma struggled to keep her calm until she was out of the wreck.

Regina was standing very upright, staring at her, waiting.

“Dad’s gone too.”

Immediately, Regina’s eyes ghosted over the surrounding trees.

“Elsa? Please? Elsa?”

Emma took a shuddering breath before she turned around and took in the trees, the ground, trying to remember how the door had looked before she had pulled it open. It had already been halfway open, the children had both been in the car, she was somehow sure of it.

“Anna!”

Regina whirled around, looking at her wildly, finally understanding their mistake.

They had asked and asked after Anna’s siblings, wanting to meet them, relatively sure that someone in that family had been the cause of the errant magic.

They’d never asked for a name.

“Anna!”

The forest around them was eerily silent.

“Anna, kid, you gotta help me out here. It’s Emma. I’m here to help, remember? Anna?”

Beside her, Regina tensed up even more, but when there was a small “Here” Emma knew that it had worked.

“Anna?”

She called, slowly turning into the direction of the feeble call.

“We’re here.”

As soon as she heard it, Emma was stumbling into the direction, Regina just behind her.

The children were under a fir tree, hidden by a bush. Elsa was propped up by the tree, Anna in her arms.

Emma fell to her knees in front of them.

“Are you okay?”

Twin pairs of fear and confusion looked at her, and Emma cursed herself, holding her hand out to Anna.

“Are you hurt?”

“I don’t think so.” Anna said, crinkling her nose and holding out her arms for inspection. Immediately Elsa strengthened her hold on her, watching Emma like a wild, scared animal.

Emma swallowed, trying to ascertain their physical state first.

Anna was wearing sneakers and a summer dress, Elsa had jeans and a shirt, but neither one of them showed any signs of blood, though Elsa held her right hand in a funny way.

“Anna? Do you want to get up? I swear I won’t hurt you.”

“You’re police” Anna supplied, confused by Emma’s second sentence, but Emma was focused on her older sister, scrutinizing how Elsa was taking this news.

It was not good.

The blonde girl narrowed her eyes at Emma, her magic simmering too near to the surface.

“Elsa?”

Regina distracted Elsa and whether or not it was Regina’s intention, Emma used it. The moment Regina kneeled down in front of Elsa, Emma held her hand out, pulling Anna into her arms.

The Sheriff instinctively turned around when a surge of magic followed her action, half of it intercepted by Regina, who had her hands stretched out between them.

Emma pulled Anna even closer into her embrace, surprised by how trustingly Anna rested her head on Emma’s shoulder.

“I got you.”

She turned around when another wave of ice appeared, Regina only stopped half of it and Emma trusted her magic to protect both Anna and herself.

“Oh.”

It worked and Anna wasn’t the only one impressed. Elsa’s eyes were flickering between Regina and Emma, wide-eyed.

Completely calm on the outside, Regina crouched down even closer to the girl, holding her hand out in a demonstrating way, palm up, conjuring a little flame, with a pacifying smile on her face.

“I have magic, too.”

Elsa was still staring at the flame when Regina reached out for her with her other hand.

“Your magic won’t hurt me. My magic protects me.”

There was a question in wide blue eyes and Regina nodded confidently. She was telling the truth.

It didn’t take anything else for Elsa to get up and throw herself into Regina’s arms, clinging to her like to a lifeline.

Regina stood up, picking up the six-year-old with strong arms like it was nothing, before she met Emma’s eyes.

“We need to get them to the hospital.”

“Car?”

Regina shook her head, glancing in the direction of the car, they’d have to pass.

Understanding, Emma nodded.

“‘kay.”

She explained to Anna that she’d use magic to get them to the hospital and the little girl just nodded, trusting her, while Elsa violently shook her head at Regina’s murmured explanation, until Regina asked after Elsa’s hand and the girl started to cry, nodding.

It turned out later that she had a broken wrist, probably from the car’s impact, which confirmed the theory that they had been in the car when it crashed.

It took Elsa a month until she gave her first weak smile, to Regina.

It took her three months until she started talking again.

It took them half a year to find out why the accident happened, and it was a lifelong process to convince Elsa that it hadn’t been her fault.

It took them two hours in a crowded hospital with suspicious looks that bordered on threatening toward the six-year-old to decide to take them home with them at first.

In spite of the staring and the questions and the hospital having completely silenced Anna as well, they immediately accepted Henry. His gentle but casual greeting, the way he had sat on the living room couch afterward, reading a book to them, casually allowing Elsa to lean into him, proved that they had made the right decision.

“Can we keep them?” Regina whispered into Emma’s ear as they watched the three children on the couch, and Emma chuckled.

“We can take care of them until they find their family. And if there is none, we can talk about the rest later.”

She watched as Regina smiled tiredly.

“So, like being foster parents.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

So they did.

Keep them, that is.

 


End file.
